commentaries

The Obama administration likes drones because he can act-tough, but not actually get his hands bloody. Can't stain that Nobel "Peace" Prize, now can we? I'm totally aghast that Obama gets a free-pass from the leftist peace-protestors for doing what they would have otherwise frothed-at-the-mouth about, had a Republican president done the same thing. Hypocritical, much?

"Why is it not only OK but praiseworthy for the U.S. government to aim at Anwar al-Awlaki and kill him because he is an Al-Qaida "operative" who may not actually have killed anyone directly (though no doubt he would have liked to), while Adam Lanza, who shot and killed 20 schoolchildren and seven adults before killing himself, could have had a trial that lasted weeks and cost millions of taxpayer dollars?"-------- Because authorized military actions, such as the one against al Qaeda, do not provide for trials and criminal actions do. How on earth could a terrorist on the loose in another part of the world possibly stand trial?????? Who would be involved? What rules would apply?

Al-Qaida has declared war on the United States, and has killed thousands of our people. They are all fair game as far as I am concerned, regardless of citizenship. My answer to Kinsley's closing question is: "Yes, that is good enough for me."

From the article: "[A] thicket of laws and precedents effectively allow the Executive Branch of our Government to proclaim as perfectly lawful certain actions that seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution and laws, while keeping the reasons for their conclusions a secret." (U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon) In other words, it's on us. And we're taking the easy way out--instead of demanding that our leaders share their reasoning and persuade us that their conclusions are compatible not only with our Constitution but also with our national character, we remain silent.

Just don't ask us to sacrifice. No draft. No tax to pay for Afghanistan/Iraq. Austerity for our returning warriors.

This Administration is not concerned with collateral fallout from breathtakingly abusive power grabs meant to solidify his grip on shredding the Constitution. The Congress will soon be bypassed and the Supreme Court has already been cowed before him thanks to Justice Roberts and the rulings that will come this summer.

Our current policy on drone usage will come back to bite us. We may have a monopoly on drones now, but that will soon change. How will we react when it is OUR citizens being blown away by another government - or terrorist organization, for that matter - perhaps with innocent US civilians ending up as casualties in the collateral damage of the attack? If we would be outraged by drone attacks on US citizens from foreign governments, then where is our outrage at current US drone usage?

Obama is a tyrant bent on disarming law abiding citizens while executing a policy of political assassination abroad. Drones are already being used for domestic surveillance. Does anyone really doubt the potential for expanded use? If Bush is Hitler, then Obama is Stalin.

The Obama administration's position is that it has looked at this carefully, and that there's no legal problem with drone assassinations for reasons that regrettably must remain secret = We checked with ourselves and we're OK.

Silly article. There is no point in discussing war without discussing the military-industrial-intelligence complex. Obama has continued and promised the Afghan war going 2009-the end of 2014, five years, to stay alive himself. Ask, JFK, RFK, MLK about ending US involvement in the Viet Nam war.

-----Our current policy on drone usage will come back to bite us. We may have a monopoly on drones now, but that will soon change. How will we react when it is OUR citizens being blown away by another government - or terrorist organization, for that matter - perhaps with innocent US civilians ending up as casualties in the collateral damage of the attack? If we would be outraged by drone attacks on US citizens from foreign governments, then where is our outrage at current US drone usage?---- We have never had a monopoly on drones, and other countries have been actively developing their own for years. Israel in particular has been at the forefront developing this technology and started years ahead of us. Drone technology would still be developed regardless of whether the US did or not...