Editing Ramstein Air Base (section)

=== Drone war control center ===
In April 2015, Ramstein Air Base was reported by German and international media as an important [[Mission control center|control center]] in the [[Unmanned combat aerial vehicle|drone]] war staged under the [[Obama administration]] against targets in areas like [[Drone strikes in Pakistan|Pakistan]], [[List of drone strikes in Yemen|Yemen]], [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|Afghanistan]] and [[Somali Civil War (2009–present)|Somalia]].{{refn|{{Cite news |date=2015-04-22 |title=US Ramstein Base Key in Drone Attacks |language=en-US |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/ramstein-base-in-germany-a-key-center-in-us-drone-war-a-1029279.html |url-status=live |access-date=2022-05-21 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190627094559/https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/ramstein-base-in-germany-a-key-center-in-us-drone-war-a-1029279.html |archive-date=2019-06-27}}}}{{refn|{{Cite magazine |last=Scahill |first=Jeremy |date=2015-04-17 |title=Germany is the Tell-Tale Heart of America's Drone War |url=https://theintercept.com/2015/04/17/ramstein/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[The Intercept]] |language=en-US |archive-url=https://archive.today/20160130182809/https://theintercept.com/2015/04/17/ramstein/ |archive-date=2016-01-30 |access-date=2022-05-21}}}}{{refn|{{Cite web |date=2015-04-18 |title=Germany's Ramstein airbase 'heart' of US drone program |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-ramstein-airbase-heart-of-us-drone-program/a-18391007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220521202249/https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-ramstein-airbase-heart-of-us-drone-program/a-18391007 |archive-date=2022-05-21 |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en-US}}}} The German government claimed not to have been informed about this function of the U.S. base.

In a TV and online documentary, the German [[Das Erste]] channel cited 2014 reports from [[Norddeutscher Rundfunk]], [[Westdeutscher Rundfunk|WDR]], and the {{lang|de|[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]]}} that revealed Ramstein to be an important hub in the drone war against terror suspects. New data, provided by [[Edward Snowden]] affiliate [[Glenn Greenwald]], supported these reports with [[classified information|classified]] documents from inside the U.S. administration and were also presented in the [[Citizenfour]] video documentary.{{refn|{{Cite web |date=2015-11-11 |title=Der Drohnenkrieg der USA |trans-title=The US Drone War |url=http://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/citizenfour/citizenfour-snowden-neuer-informant100.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830122745/https://www.daserste.de/information/reportage-dokumentation/citizenfour/citizenfour-snowden-neuer-informant100.html |archive-date=2017-08-30 |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=[[Das Erste]] |language=de}}}}{{refn|{{Cite web |title=Wie von Deutschland aus der Kampf gegen den Terror gesteuert wird |trans-title=How the fight against Terror is controlled from Germany |url=https://www.lernzeit.de/geheimer-krieg/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220521203733/https://www.lernzeit.de/geheimer-krieg/ |archive-date=2022-05-21 |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=lernzeit.de |date=19 February 2019 |language=de-DE}}}} The revelation of US drone activities from Ramstein lead to nationwide anti-drone protests under the banner of "Stop Ramstein Air Base".{{refn|{{Cite web |title=Ramstein Air Base anti-drone protests: The Germans taking on the US military |url=https://www.dw.com/en/ramstein-air-base-anti-drone-protests-the-germans-taking-on-the-us-military/a-40432117 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220521204114/https://www.dw.com/en/ramstein-air-base-anti-drone-protests-the-germans-taking-on-the-us-military/a-40432117 |archive-date=2022-05-21 |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en-US}}}}

In 2019, three [[Yemen]]is who lost relatives in a 2012 US drone strike took legal action against the German government for aiding the breaking of international law by the United States, by tolerating these operations from Ramstein. The German Higher Administrative Court in [[Münster]] ruled that the German government must take appropriate measures to control whether the US army follows [[international law]] at Ramstein Air Base.{{refn|{{Cite web |title=Court hears case on Germany's role in US drone deaths in Yemen |url=https://www.dw.com/en/court-hears-case-on-germanys-role-in-us-drone-deaths-in-yemen/a-47921862 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190319182548/https://www.dw.com/en/court-hears-case-on-germanys-role-in-us-drone-deaths-in-yemen/a-47921862 |archive-date=2019-03-19 |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en-US}}}} However, the possibilities of Germany to control US activities on their territory are very limited as the United States has jurisdiction over Ramstein Air Base.{{refn|{{Cite web |title=Berlin powerless to challenge US drone operations at Ramstein air base |url=https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-powerless-to-challenge-us-drone-operations-at-ramstein-air-base/a-17545327 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220521204907/https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-powerless-to-challenge-us-drone-operations-at-ramstein-air-base/a-17545327 |archive-date=2022-05-21 |access-date=2022-05-21 |website=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=en-US}}}}