A large part of trust is dependent on transparency, because knowledge about events helps build a case for integrity.

On that note there’s an important New America blog post that highlights a change in the U.S. policy; AFRICOM has returned its procedures to reporting death toll details of drone strikes.

Transparency regarding all casualties and not just those assessed to have been civilians is important for efforts to check the accuracy of AFRICOM’s assessments regarding the civilian toll. It is also important in its own right. Whether or not classed as civilians by the U.S. military, alleged militants are still people the United States killed. Regardless of one’s stance on U.S. military operations in Somalia, Americans should know and be able to face the impact of their military actions abroad.