There seems to be a growing collective freakout over the Obama administration’s targeted killing and drone program that exists only on the left. That doesn’t mean that no one on the right gives a rat’s ass, but they aren’t making a stink. My advice to the administration is simple. The president needs to talk about why we are killing anyone who isn’t in the general proximity of our troops in Afghanistan. Yes, people understand that there are fighters in Pakistan that slip into Afghanistan and attack our personnel there. They also understand that we are in the process of leaving Afghanistan. But why are we using drones in Yemen and Africa?
I know that there are answers to that question. That’s not my point. I haven’t heard any justification for drone attacks in Yemen and Africa from the White House in a very long time (and, no, I do not count John Brennan’s testimony at his confirmation hearing, which was compulsory and that few people watched).
This is a very big, complex issue that has legal, moral, tactical, and strategic implications. One reason I haven’t been overly interested in the debate over the internal legal justification for targeted killing is that the bigger issue is the War on Terror itself. I understand that compelling the release of the memos is a way of starting a much-needed debate, and I have no objection to those who are pushing hard on that. But regardless of what those memos say, we either need to be doing these targeted killings or we don’t. If we do need to be doing them, then the legal justification can work itself out. But the administration needs to convince me and a lot of other people that this strategy is sound and necessary before we can even get to arguments about what the Authority to Use Military Force Against Terrorists really authorized, or what the proper level of transparency and oversight should be for drone strikes.
We know that terrorists in Yemen tried to bring down a passenger jetliner and that they mailed ink cartridge-bombs to the United States. We know that there are al-Qaeda groups operating in Somalia and other parts of Africa, although their connection to the 9/11 plotters is tenuous at this point. People know that there are bad guys in the world who are plotting to do us harm. But that doesn’t mean that we need to give the president the right to treat the entire planet as a battlefield where he can decide who lives and dies and who’s sovereignty will be violated without any check from Congress or the judicial branch.
So, it’s really two things. Why do we need to be doing this? And, how do we do it in a way that limits the opportunities for abuse and that can sustain the people’s confidence?
I’d like to hear answers to those two questions. I’d like that a lot more than for some senators to see some memos.
