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"Some critics indiscriminately decry all drone strikes as “extrajudicial assassinations,” arguing that killing is never lawful beyond the battlefield and even comparing the practice to former president George W. Bush’s authorization of torture. But those criticisms are exaggerated and misguided. Killing and torture are fundamentally different. Governments have always killed the enemy during wars, and it is not unlawful to do so. No one accuses Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Roosevelt of “extrajudicial assassinations” because their troops killed tens of thousands of enemy soldiers without charges or trials. That the Confederate soldiers were American citizens doesn’t change that fact. And even in the absence of an existing war, and therefore outside any battlefield, states are permitted to use lethal force to respond to an imminent armed attack."
Sure, they have rights and will face court if they are captured, but not everyone is willing to surrender, and we are talking about those who will not surrender. I said it before, - cops kill US citizens every day. Why do you think cops carry a gun? Do you think the cops should be disarmed too?
Absolutely not.
What if this person is building a bomb next to a school? Or his neighbour has a home day care? What about the families in the homes surrounding the perp.?
So it won’t do to dismiss the drone program as illegal assassinations, full stop. A more nuanced critique is necessary. The program is fundamentally flawed in at least four respects:
)The power to kill with drones should be governed by clear, transparent rules, not by a secret playbook.
)Killing in self-defence should always be a last resort.
)At least when it comes to American citizens, it cannot be constitutional for the president to deliberately kill and then refuse to acknowledge doing so. Unacknowledged detentions and killings were condemned as “disappearances” when Argentina’s military junta employed them in its “dirty war” in the 1970s. How can a government that is supposed to be of, by and for the people have the power to kill its own while keeping secret the fact that it has done so? Accountable and limited government begins with transparency.
)The power to kill by remote control anywhere in the world should not unilaterally reside in the executive branch.
What if this person is building a bomb next to a school? Or his neighbour has a home day care? What about the families in the homes surrounding the perp.?
Since we are well into hypothetical, I person in the United States is about to set off a Nuclear bomb. The only tool available to stop the person is an armed drone. Leave aside how we got into that state. Does the President have the authority to order a deadly force strike? At its core that is the question Sen. Paul asked. The answer is as AG Holder replied is yes there are scenarios that they President would be authorized.
Paul's question wasn't on the circumstances, Paul's question was on the authority. This President and prior President's have had the authority with the bounds of the Constitution and long standing U.S laws.
AG Holder also suggested more likely alternatives, but Sen. Paul insisted it was not about the alternatives or plans it was about ultimate authority.
Why would this be the only option? What happened to all the other law enforcement options? Are we assuming they have all been vaporized?
The government can protect our borders from attack. They can not simply decide to target an American citizen.
So it won’t do to dismiss the drone program as illegal assassinations, full stop. A more nuanced critique is necessary. The program is fundamentally flawed in at least four respects:
)The power to kill with drones should be governed by clear, transparent rules, not by a secret playbook.
)Killing in self-defence should always be a last resort.
)At least when it comes to American citizens, it cannot be constitutional for the president to deliberately kill and then refuse to acknowledge doing so. Unacknowledged detentions and killings were condemned as “disappearances” when Argentina’s military junta employed them in its “dirty war” in the 1970s. How can a government that is supposed to be of, by and for the people have the power to kill its own while keeping secret the fact that it has done so? Accountable and limited government begins with transparency.
)The power to kill by remote control anywhere in the world should not unilaterally reside in the executive branch.
Sounds like you agree with Brennan and the Obama Administration.
For now, I believe:
1) "Targeted" strikes are legal
2) "Signature" strikes are illegal bordering on immoral
3) "Double taps" and targeting funerals are illegal, immoral and war crimes
Sure, they have rights and will face court if they are captured, but not everyone is willing to surrender, and we are talking about those who will not surrender. I said it before, - cops kill US citizens every day. Why do you think cops carry a gun? Do you think the cops should be disarmed too?
No just held accountable for their actions like most other people in society.
What if this person is building a bomb next to a school? Or his neighbour has a home day care? What about the families in the homes surrounding the perp.?
Rand Paul 2016
Immaterial to the parameters Sen. Paul setup. The President would still be authorized to order the use of deadly force. As Sen. Paul has pointed out the fact that the President might not do it under particular situation doesn't change the fact the Obama Administration believes it has the authority based on current U.S. Law.
I would note that the Authority the Obama Administration is asserting is consistent with U.S. Laws
Why would this be the only option? What happened to all the other law enforcement options? Are we assuming they have all been vaporized?
Drones are just another tool in the toolbox, and no more evil than the other tools.
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