Do libs support President Obama's "Death From Above" drone attacks on terrorists?
It sure does appear to be an effective strategy! Obama widens drone attacks in Pakistan The Obama administration has granted secret permission to the CIA to carry out more indiscriminate drone missile strikes in Pakistan, even as protests over civilian casualties caused by the attacks continue to grow. Officials revealed this week that the US intelligence agency is operating under rules that allow it to target suspected “militants†in Pakistan based upon “pattern of life†analyses, without even ascertaining their identity. For the most part, they acknowledge, the names of those assassinated with Hellfire missiles fired from Predator and the larger Reaper drones are never known. This description of the drone program flies in the face of official propaganda, which has presented the missile attacks as part of a carefully prepared exercise in “targeted killings†aimed against high-ranking leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. “Instead of just a few dozen attacks per year, CIA operated unmanned aircraft now carry out multiple missile strikes each week against safe houses, training camps and other hiding places used by militants in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan,†the LA Times notes. There have been 34 missile strikes so far this year, at least two every week, according to figures compiled by the New America Foundation. This compares to 53 for all of last year and 30 during the last year of the Bush administration. Intelligence officials report that the size of the drone fleet being deployed over Pakistan has doubled since Obama took office in January 2009. According to the New America Foundation, of the up to 247 people reported killed in attacks carried out so far in 2010 only seven have been publicly identified as “militants.†Given this scale of carnage, the deaths of civilians cannot be viewed as a matter of unfortunate accidents, but rather constitute a deliberate reign of terror that is being imposed upon what Washington views as a hostile population inhabiting the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. These assassinations by remote-controlled pilotless aircraft have provoked mounting anger throughout Pakistan itself. Investigators have reported that Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in last weekend’s abortive Times Square car bombing attempt in New York City, has stated that he decided to attempt the terrorist attack after a return to his native country, where he saw the bloodshed caused by the missile strikes. The American Civil Liberties Union issued a letter to President Obama in conjunction with the congressional hearing, noting recent reports that this administration had targeted a US citizen living in Yemen—the American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki—for assassination by means of a drone attack. The letter expressed “profound concern about recent reports indicating that you have authorized a program that contemplates the killing of suspected terrorists—including US citizens—located far away from zones of actual armed conflict. If accurately described, this program violates international law and, at least insofar as it affects US citizens, it is also unconstitutional.†http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/may2010/dron-m07.shtml For what it's worth, I also support killing terrorists by all means available. If killing terrorists can be accomplished by drones operated remotely by U.S. "pilots" stationed safely at Nellis AFB or NAS Fallon, all the better!
Politics - 8 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I think it's very effective. I am a liberal independant.
2 :
I support killing terrorist with any means available.
3 :
They will support anything he does but in this case I completely agree with his method, probably the only thing he has ever done that I do agree with but I want more and throw in a few Wart Hogs.~
4 :
I love this question.... cause it tears Liberals inside out... on this...converting them to Conservatism..
5 :
get a blog, who has time for this?
6 :
As long as we're doing it with the concurrence of the Pakistani government, and we're not violating any laws or international treaties, then yes, I agree.
7 :
I think we should either go all out or bring the troops home. I have never voted for a Republican, have served in the military, own guns, and fish and hunt.
8 :
Great question. And to take it one step further - If killing terrorist suspects is perfectly all right, why do Obama and the libs get their panties in such a bunch about indefinitely detaining terrorist suspects? Execution by drone = Giddyup! Imprisonment on a Caribbean island = Against the very fabric of our country.
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