Canada has signed on to a U.S. declaration that is aimed at creating international rules for the use of armed drones.

But some critics have dismissed the proposal as a way for the U.S. to move focus away from its aggressive campaign to use the unmanned aerial vehicles to kill its enemies, causing the death of scores of innocent civilians in the process.

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In a Sept. 29 opinion piece in Defense News, Rachel Stohl, director of the Conventional Defense program at the Stimson Center, wrote that critics are deeply troubled by the possibility the declaration could provide a blank check for future use and exports of drones. Some are concerned that the joint declaration serves to effectively legitimize past US drone use, she wrote.

Stohl also pointed out that the declaration is even less robust than the previously established U.S. export controls on UAVs.

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