TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
drone_ap980.jpg
A drone is much easier to make than a nuclear weapon. Pretty soon any country will be able to buy or make one - a precisely targeted drone. (AP Photo/File)

Could the President order a drone strike on your block?

BY Dave Ross  on March 7, 2013 @ 6:02 am (Updated: 6:18 am - 3/7/13 )

At a hearing Wednesday, the Attorney General of the United States seemed to have trouble answering whether the U.S. Constitution would prohibit the President from ordering a drone strike against a known terrorist who is an American citizen sitting in a cafe here in the U.S. minding his own business.

Said AG Eric Holder, "The way in which you have described this person, sitting at the cafe - the use of lethal force would not be appropriate."

"I find it remarkable that you still will not give an opinion on the constitutionality," said Sen. Rand Paul.

This prompted a real live talking filibuster in the U.S. Senate by members worried that the 2011 drone strike in Yemen that blew up Anwar Al Awlaki set a dangerous precedent. Awlaki had joined al Qaeda, but he was also an American citizen.

According to a leaked justice department memo the United States - as part of its right to defend itself - asserts the right to target al Qaeda operatives wherever they may be: raising the "terrorist in the Starbucks" scenario.

But this whole debate ignores the real threat. Whatever the Constitution says or doesn't say, if a U.S. President ordered a drone strike on American soil, and killed innocent people - as we've done in Afghanistan and Yemen, he'd be impeached and tried for murder.

The real threat from our expanding use of drones is that we have let the genie out of the bottle. A drone is much easier to make than a nuclear weapon. Pretty soon any country will be able to buy or make one - a precisely targeted drone. It's a suicide bomber without the suicide. The real threat is not that the President would order a drone strike on US soil, it's that someone like Anwar al Awlaki might be able to order a drone strike on U.S. soil.

Filibuster THAT.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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Comments (107)


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  • HLC wrote...
    The biggest DRONE this country has ever seen sits in the oval office.
    March 7, 2013 9:21 am
    When he isn't playing golf or on the View or Letterman.
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  • seattleJohn wrote...
    Way to Sensantionalize...
    March 7, 2013 9:46 am
    a non story Mynorthwest.com. They take a picture from a natural gas explosion in an american neighborhood with the "DRONES AT HOME" headline. Of course people are going to get scared from this propaganda.
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  • seattleJohn wrote...
    I built a drone...
    March 7, 2013 9:49 am
    with a realtime video downlink and onboard HD camera that I fly over my hood all the time. Maybe sometime you'll see my bird hovering over your house in public airspace. shnaaaaaap
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  • seattleJohn wrote...
    not really but....
    March 7, 2013 9:53 am
    the reality is that drones not the future they are the present
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  • WorkingStiff wrote...
    Amazing Discussion
    March 7, 2013 9:54 am
    This whole discussion about drone strikes by Americans on US soil amazes me. We use drones over sees because they can hang out longer over areas, cost less to operate, and do not require the same level of staffing at the basis they operate out of compared to jet fighters. In addition, unlike US soil, we can not have a cadre of agents keeping track of terrorist's movements in Pakistan or Yemen. If the president wanted to fire a missile at terrorists on US soil he doesn't need a drone. An F-15, F-22 or F-18 from the closest base can do it. Heck, a couple agents with a shoulder launch system could do it. This discussion about drones is a bunch of hyper bull that only buffoons would pick up an run with. Hey, we are willing to shoot down a hijacked commercial plane with hundreds of passengers on board. Where is the outrage for that.
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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    The story here, Stiff...
    March 7, 2013 1:35 pm
    ...that the Attorney General of the United States of America...who is the top legal administrative official in the nation and the direct adviser to the POTUS with all matters constitutional...would not state his opinion on the constitutionality of taking out American citizens without the guarantee of due process. Which strongly suggests that he, and therefore the administration, believes that they can legally do so.
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  • WorkingStiff wrote...
    ...believes that they can legally do so.
    March 8, 2013 6:14 am
    Like a good attorney, the AG gave a hedged response to a vague hypothetical question. When a very specific question was asked, he gave a very specific answer. And that answer was "No." But I ask you to apply some logic. How are drones any different than any other weapon that is available to the President. Given the paranoid logic being used, the wackos should ask the same question for F-15s, F-22s, F-18s, Cobra attack helicopters, Apache attach helicopters, cruise missiles, etc. etc. etc. Please apply some critical thinking to your reasoning.
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  • Silverado wrote...
    So It's a "Free Pass" Like Patty & Maria Constantly Get, Huh???
    March 7, 2013 10:06 am
    But as long as innocent people weren't around Dave then it would be OK?? Is that what you're saying??? As long as there's no collateral damage like innocents being killed apparently you support this.....madman idea???? He (whomever authorizes such things) should be relieved of office AFTER he's hauled up in front of Congress to merely explain himself long before he even gets the chance to do such a thing. Talk about "criminal thoughts" - this takes the cake so far in my 58 years of life.... You ever notice how we NEVER hear anything from Patty Murray or Maria Cantwell on these kinds of issues??? I suppose they ARE too busy to be bothered with such unimportant things like this.... Maybe the drones with some futuristic addition should be used to hunt people in power who think like this. The enemies of freedom & liberty are everywhere, but are especially thick and should provide a "target rich environment" in Washington DC....
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  • Hayduke wrote...
    Strange, where was the outrage from conservatives when the Bush administration did basically the same thing?
    March 7, 2013 10:47 am
    And first of all, The Obama WH hasn't set out to kill anyone stateside. Not yet anyway. But there were cases of American-born fighters in Afghanistan engaging our troops, and they were captured and denied all their constitutional rights by being labeled "enemy combatants." I thought that only applied to foreigners?
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    On the battle field yes hayduke
    March 7, 2013 10:57 am
    On our own soil? NO!
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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    Hayduke
    March 7, 2013 1:38 pm
    According to your "logic", soldiers in the field are supposed to sort out the nationality of people with which they are engaged in combat?

    Did you first consider to think before typing that???

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  • Roark wrote...
    You're about 89% right Dave, which for you is pretty good!
    March 7, 2013 11:10 am
    I was with you right up to the last paragraph. The REAL danger is not terrorists making drones. It's the guy in the Whitehouse declaring all conservatives are terrorists. His DHS Secretary has already said veterans, right wing grops, etc are "potential terrorists". So what's left before they decide to hit the next meeting of the John Birch Society with a drone attack? This is slippery slope! I don't trust YOUR SIDE Dave.
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  • Integrator wrote...
    Where were you all 12 years ago?
    March 7, 2013 11:18 am
    Where was all the outrage from conservatives when Bush was laying the groundwork for this? This is Cheney's wet dream on steroids! Collective fear from both sides is what has made all of this even a scenario. This has been building since 9/11/01, and really, on a macro level, it's all an extension of cold-war policies of keep the people afraid to drive the military-industrial complexes massive growth. WAKE UP. You're being led to be upset at a person, rather than at the entire system which drives this type of thing. Sheep, all of you.
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  • RonJ wrote...
    wet dream or not
    March 7, 2013 1:23 pm
    You gotta admire a man who shoots a lawyer in the face while bird hunting drunk and then makes the LAWYER apologize for being in the way!
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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    What Obama has done/is doing...
    March 7, 2013 1:41 pm
    ...is all Bush's fault>

    The world according to integrator.

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  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    You are absolutely correct of course Integrator...
    March 7, 2013 1:44 pm
    But people never want to believe that "their" side could ever actually be building a system for total enslavement.
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  • irony wrote...
    all you potheads voted for him...
    March 7, 2013 11:23 am
    now he gets to subjectively decide outside the constitution. remember your phoney screams about the patriot act, which had nothing to do with shooting at people.
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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    Obama's NDAA...
    March 7, 2013 1:40 pm
    ...makes the Patriot Act read like "Goodnight Moon". Yet from the left, nothing but the sound of crickets chirping.
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  • jabailo wrote...
    Send In The Drones
    March 7, 2013 11:25 am
    I hope he could...we need to de-thug my neighborhood. Send in the drones to police the drug deals, assaults and car "prowls".
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