On August 6, 2016, the United States released a redacted version of the Presidential Policy Guidance (PPG). The eighteen-page document—issued in May 2013 and reportedly referred to formally as the PPG and informally as the “playbook”— establishes procedures for capture and kill operations by U.S. forces targeting terrorists outside of the United States and areas of active hostilities. (In July 2016, the Obama administration clarified that current areas of active hostilities include Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan). According to reports, the redacted PPG was released in response to a 2015 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request submitted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The PPG was issued in 2013 in response to calls for greater transparency in the conduct of U.S. counterterrorism operations, particularly those involving the use of armed, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or “drones.” However, the PPG also governs operations involving special operations forces and manned aircraft. According to reports, for lethal operations, the PPG creates a multi-layered interagency process whereby a small group of the president’s National Security Council advisors and their deputies and legal counsel must unanimously agree on the lawfulness and appropriateness of a strike. If any of the principals disagree or if the targeted individual is an American citizen, the decision of whether or not to proceed must be made personally by the President. The PPG establishes a similar process for capture operations and expresses a preference for allowing other countries to handle any subsequent detention.