I have a very hard time understanding how the legal framework for anything could be classified, and I make no exception for drone strikes against American citizens. I am not satisfied with the system they have in place and believe that there must be judicial oversight of the program. But another thing that bothers me is that I am not at all convinced that we are making ourselves safer. When I open the Washington Post and see a headline that we have a secret drone airbase in Saudi Arabia, I am reminded that Usama bin-Laden’s main complaint was that we had U.S. troops stationed in that country, most of whom were at an airbase.
We know that stationing troops in Saudi Arabia invites violent backlash and offers a huge recruitment tool to terrorist organizations. I question the wisdom of thinking we could keep a drone base secret.
I am not, like many progressives, reflexively opposed to the use of drones. I can see the upside of having eyes on the target, limiting unintended casualties, and being able to strike in areas difficult to penetrate on the ground. Depending on alternatives, a drone program can be preferable to, say, paying the Pakistanis to police their border areas or putting our troops on the ground.
It’s not the drones that disturb me per se; it’s a combination of lack of transparency and oversight, and immense skepticism that what we’re doing is actually in our long-term national security interest. I know it is tremendously difficult to discuss sensitive intelligence operations with the public, but we need more information in order to have an informed debate in this country. One reason I can’t argue in favor of the administration’s policy is that they won’t tell me what it is. At least, they won’t explain it with enough specificity and supporting evidence to allow me to understand it, let alone agree with it. And it’s not just the legal justification that they won’t share, it’s the overarching philosophical vision. Where is this going? How does it end?
I periodically voice these concerns and then I go back to railing against the Republicans, who are certainly worse in every area pertaining to civil liberties and foreign policy. But it seems like a good time, with John Brennan’s nomination to head the CIA pending, to say that I can’t support his confirmation unless the administration is more forthcoming. If their allies can’t defend their actions, they have a problem.
