Obama Faces New Questions on Drones
There’s a lot of what-ifs and morality caterwauling going on over the drone memo, but by it’s very narrow scope most Americans are probably ok with it if they were to read the memo itself and not what some pundits are painting it as. (here)
The leak of a secret Justice Department memo on using drones to kill U.S. citizens threw kerosene onto a simmering legal debate — but with most lawmakers showing no appetite to confront President Barack Obama publicly over the strikes, the politics of the issue remain frozen.
Still, there’s little doubt the “white paper” made its way to NBC News in an effort to draw more attention to drone questions just as Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan heads to his CIA director confirmation hearing Thursday.
Despite outrage and professions of shock from some liberal commentators, there’s nothing really stunning in the memo. Most of the conclusions about the scope of the government’s power against alleged terrorists have been outlined by senior Obama Administration officials in speeches last year that began to roll back some of the secrecy surrounding U.S. drone operations abroad.