It made me sick to find out that our elected leaders on a weekly basis go through a list of people who are going to be killed via drones. It made me even sicker to know that anyone else in the vicinity of the intended target who the drones might kill are immediately labeled as "enemy combatants".
It's also interesting to note that although Hillary voiced concerns in 2009 about not doing something about the root cause of radicalization, it wasn't until last September that something was done about it.
"But in the months that followed, some officials felt the urgency of counterterrorism strikes was crowding out consideration of a broader strategy against radicalization. Though Mrs. Clinton strongly supported the strikes, she complained to colleagues about the drones-only approach at Situation Room meetings, in which discussion would focus exclusively on the pros, cons and timing of particular strikes.
At their weekly lunch, Mrs. Clinton told the president she thought there should be more attention paid to the root causes of radicalization, and Mr. Obama agreed. But it was September 2011 before he issued an executive order setting up a sophisticated, interagency war room at the State Department to counter the jihadi narrative on an hour-by-hour basis, posting messages and video online and providing talking points to embassies."
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His first term has seen private warnings from top officials about a “Whac-A-Mole” approach to counterterrorism; the invention of a new category of aerial attack following complaints of careless targeting; and presidential acquiescence in a formula for counting civilian deaths that some officials think is skewed to produce low numbers.
The administration’s failure to forge a clear detention policy has created the impression among some members of Congress of a take-no-prisoners policy. And Mr. Obama’s ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron P. Munter, has complained to colleagues that the C.I.A.’s strikes drive American policy there, saying “he didn’t realize his main job was to kill people,” a colleague said."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on-al-qaeda.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
As much as I think that drones are helpful in weeding out avowed terrorists, they also are effective in killing far too many civilians and are being used as a recruitment source by various groups.
I understand the government's need to protect the nation from future attacks, but have we crossed a line where we have lost our moral compass and have become no better than those who attack us?
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