Ex-Pentagon chief Gates OK with drone oversight

(AP) Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the idea of creating a special court to decide when unmanned drones can kill American al-Qaida suspects overseas is something worth giving serious consideration to.

Gates, who served President George W. Bush and Barack Obama, says the practices the Obama administration have followed are quite stringent and are not being abused. But, he tells CNN's State of the Union, ''who is to say about a future president?

The potential model for overseeing such drone strikes is a secret court of federal judges who now review requests for government surveillance in espionage and terrorism cases.

Gates says there's merit to some check on the president in order to give the American people confidence there was a compelling case to launch such a drone attack.