US President Barack Obama likes to talk about the "to do" list he has for the US Congress. He is calling on them "to take action to create jobs and help the middle class". The five-point list covers tax incentives, mortgages and clean energy in order to sustain economic growth. He has talked about the list on every possible occasion while campaigning for his re-election during the last few weeks, and it is featured prominently on the White House website.

However, there is one list Obama has studiously shied away from in the past 10 days. That is his infamous "to kill" list, when as commander-in-chief he oversees the regular Tuesday counterterrorism meetings of security officials in the White House selecting targets for drone attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia.

Obama's unusual silence about the list is possibly because the Senate is proposing to hold hearings on the leaking of "classified information".

That may also explain why most US news organizations have not shown the kind of excitement they normally would for such a sensational story. Instead, they have paid more attention to the trial of Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach charged with child rape.

Yet the public in both the US and other parts of the world, especially in countries where the drone attacks take place, are waiting impatiently for an explanation from the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Obama has authorized hundreds of drone attacks since taking office in 2009, many times more than the number of strikes authorized during George W. Bush's term in office. The British newspaper The Guardian reported that Obama has launched at least 275 drone strikes in Pakistan alone.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism based in London estimates that up to 830 civilians, including many women and children, might have been killed by drone attacks in Pakistan, 138 in Yemen and 57 in Somalia, while hundreds more have been injured.

From time to time, news of high-profile terrorist suspects killed in drone attacks make the headlines, but what is usually missing is that these men's wives and children are often "collateral damage".

In fact, the stupidity of the drone attacks is self-evident. The killing of anyone in the vicinity of the "target", including civilians, is sowing the seeds of hatred among the local populations. We have seen that from the strong protests against US drones from the people and governments in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen.

Obama's image as a principled man and a promoter of peace has been irrevocably damaged by the revelation that he is "hands-on" when it comes to drone strikes.

As the New York Times observed: "Obama has placed himself at the helm of a top secret 'nominations' process to designate terrorists for kill or capture, of which the capture part has become largely theoretical."

Obama once aggressively criticized Bush for his drone program and vowed during his 2008 campaign to close the Guantanamo detention camp, where people are being held without due process. But he has not kept any of these promises.

Given the growing frustration among his core supporters over these issues, it is not clear how many Democrats are going to campaign as passionately for Obama as they did in 2008.

Obama is trying to show he is tough. But instead he has shown he is prepared to kill women and children, and he does it every week on Tuesday.

It's time to recall Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

The author, based in New York, is deputy editor of China Daily US edition. Email: chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/09/2012 page5)