![]() |
|||||||
|
|||||||
President's Predator Drone Program by John M. Curtis Copyright
Feb. 10, 2013
Facing tough
questions at his confirmation hearing in the Senate Intelligence Committee Feb.
6, President Barack Obama’s pick for CIA Director 57-year-old John Brennan
touted the Predator Drone program that sometimes targets U.S. citizens. Brennan offered no opinion regarding
the constitutionality of targeting Americans, focusing on the efficiency of the
program. When a U.S. Predator Drone
killed 40-year-old American-born al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki Sept. 30,
2011, it opened up a can of worms.
Al-Awlaki swore his allegiance to Osama bin Laden, becoming Yemen’s chief
al-Qaeda terrorist. “We will be mindful that if our nation is threatened, our best offense won’t always be
deploying large armies abroad, but delivering targeted, surgical pressure to
groups that threaten us,” Brennan said in a 2011 speech. When the U.S. ramped up the Predator
Drone Program after Sept. 11, it rapidly became the most effective tool in
targeting al-Qaeda terrorists.
U.S. Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Rand Paul (R-Kt.) threaten to
hold up Brennan and Defense Secretary nominee former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.),
unless both designees explain limits of targeting U.S. citizens. Graham and Paul have argued that
U.S. citizens require habeas corpus or the right to petition a court before the
president decides to place them on the Predator Drone kill list. When former President George W. Bush
and Vice President Dick Cheney implored the Congress to pass the Patriot Act
Feb. 2, 2002, it was to give the commander-in-chief more power to wage the war
on terror. While many purists
debate the loss of civil liberties, Sept. 11 proved the U.S. was in a state of
asymmetric war with al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Interrogating Brennan at his
confirmation hearing, Graham and Paul questioned the legality of targeting U.S.
citizens who may be fighting with or collaborating with the enemy.
Bush and Cheney’s use of the Patriot Act made it clear that anyone
fighting on the terrorist battlefield was fair game. Now Graham, Paul and other U.S.
senators question the president’s right as commander-in-chief to apply the
Predator Drone Program on anyone waging war against the U.S. When engaged in conventional
warfare, no one questions the citizenship of battlefield combatants fighting the
United States. Expecting the White
House to ferret out American citizens from other enemy combatants is unrealistic
and unnecessary. Extending
constitutional rights to Americans engaged in covert or overt war against the
U.S. is unrealistic. When American
citizens join terror groups and wage war against the U.S., it’s not up to the
White House to determine American citizenship. Brennan was asked by Graham about the appropriateness of targeting U.S. citizens. Graham knows that it’s possible for
U.S. citizens to join terror groups and wage war against the United States.
Objecting to the President’s right as commander-and-chief to order
Predator Drone attacks goes to the heart of presidential power. No one questioned Bush’s use of
Predator Drones or even mobilizing the U.S. military to go to war in Afghanistan
and Iraq following Sept. 11. “It’s
the idea of giving the president unfettered power to kill an American without
checks-and-balances that’s so troubling,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (R-Ore.). “Every American has a right to know
when their government believes it’s allowed to kill them,” forgetting that when
it comes to combat situations, there’s no requirement for the commander-in-chief
to check the citizenship of enemy combatants. While
there are certainly some constitutional issues, the commander-in-chief has wide
latitude to conduct military operations to protect U.S. national security. Predator drone strikes fall within
the president’s authority as commander-in-chief, something questioned since the
Vietnam War.
Presidential War Powers authority comes from the executive branch’s more
direct decision-making capability.
Waiting for Congress to debate the merits of military action would compromise
U.S. national security, paralyzing the president’s capacity as
commander-in-chief. When former
President Bill Clinton confronted al-Qaeda in 1998 after attacks on U.S.
embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, he fired Cruise
missiles at Bin Laden’s terrorist training camps over 100 kilometers from Kabul. Congress criticized Clinton’s
attacks as “throw-away” missile strikes, costing taxpayers millions without results. “Compared with other options,” said
Brennan in 2011, “a pilot operating
this aircraft remotely with the benefits of technology and with the safety of
distance might actually have a clearer picture of the target and its
surroundings, including the presence of innocent civilians,”
advocating Predator Drones over Cruise
missiles.
Instead of hazing Obama’s picks for Defense Secretary and the CIA, the
GOP should make it easier for the president to perform his duties as
commander-in-chief. There’s plenty
of precedent for targeting terrorists waging war against the United States. Today’s Predator Drone Program,
operated jointly by the Air Force and CIA, operates in the War on Terror. There’s no requirement for the White
House to check the citizenship of enemy combatants waging war against the United
States. Putting Predator Drone
attacks into hands of the federal courts would handicap the president from
performing his duties as commander-in-chief. “It’s the only game in town, in terms of confronting or trying to disrupt the al-Qaeda
leadership,” said CIA Director Leon Panetta in 2009. There’s no citizenship test when it
comes to enemy combatants waging war against the U.S. Whatever the nationality of enemy
combatants, it’s not the White
House’s job to figure it out. John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma. |
|||||||
![]() |
|||||||
Homecobolos> Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc. (310) 204-8300 All Rights Reserved. |