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 (130)


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  • shark75 wrote...
    Two Minutes, Fifty-One Seconds
    March 7, 2013 6:39 am
    The amount of time it takes the most transparent administration in the history of th earth to say the word "No." I'm not scared or anything...
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  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    Randy Weaver taught them a lesson
    March 7, 2013 7:00 am
    He survived and sued. A drone could have prevented that.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • mnpat wrote...
    But this whole debate ignores the real threat.
    March 7, 2013 7:02 am
    The real threat is we have a lousy administration and a press core that spend most their time kissing his buttocks.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • cybermatrix24 wrote...
    Home Page Picture....
    March 7, 2013 7:07 am
    Did anyone else notice the picture they used for this story on the top of the home page? It shows a bunch of homes blown up. It's obviously a picture from like a natural gas explosion or something like that. Yet they are trying to make it seem like that picture was from a drone strike...what's up with that?
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  • daveismenotyou wrote...
    I was thinking the same thing!
    March 7, 2013 7:19 am
    My first thought was this was a shot after Josh Powell blew that house up. But then I saw the debris across the street. Not the most appropriate picture mynorthwest.com!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • deltta wrote...
    Re... picture
    March 7, 2013 7:28 am
    It's a gas explosion. dave Ross, MyNW and Bonneville need to have a look at the quality of the stories around here.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • scottinshoreline wrote...
    If we have enough evidence to strike with a drone...
    March 7, 2013 7:27 am
    ...then we have enough evidence to apprehend. Drone strikes do not serve any sense of 'expediency'...they simply make the job of killing less risky and more detached. By the way...who cares who's in office today, or whether people were screaming 'foul' when their guy was in office. The worrisome facet of setting these kinds of precedents is who is going to come along in the future and use it to an end nobody ever considered...
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  • RonJ wrote...
    Dave you've finally
    March 7, 2013 7:47 am
    almost got one right. The President, as Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces has no authority to kill an American, in America or anywhere else for that matter.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Your Obama regime is crumbling before your very eye's Parrots!
    March 7, 2013 8:00 am
    First of all, American DOES NOT have a President. We have not had a POTUS since 21 January 2009. No American President would even think of making a threat to kill any American citizen on our own soil. That is what Police are for.

    I just cannot get over you useful idiots calling for the death of President Bush and how he was a murderous War monger. But now we have your UN accountable Dear Leader ordering hits on American civilians from inside the White House by remote control. On top of all the wars your Dear Leader has involved us in. (Can you Parrots say, "War Monger?)Chicago gangster thug style actions.Your man child Dear Leader has lost it. He is living in a Cocaine fueled delusional,racist hate filled, rage at all who dare disagree with his dictatorship world. He is not fit to lead my me and my nation.

    We Tea party American Conservatives, along with thousand of former fed up Obama supporters, will take the Senate and we will elect more Conservatives to the house and your Dear Leader will be IMPEACHED!

    And you Parrots voted for this insanity, TWICE.

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  • RonJ wrote...
    I won't be put in a box
    March 7, 2013 8:10 am
    by referring to myself as a "Tea Party" conservative but I sure hope and pray we get the Senate back. As long as we're on the topic, can anyone suggest how we an get Maria Can't-Do-Well outta office?
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  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    Sorry Ron
    March 7, 2013 9:48 am
    Maria and Patty are set for life. The majority voters cannot seem to get past D on the ballot.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • RonJ wrote...
    (Heavy sigh)
    March 7, 2013 1:16 pm
    I know.
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  • soo purletiv wrote...
    @ RonJ
    March 7, 2013 10:47 am
    Think Drone Strike.

    Doh! Did I post that out loud? ;-)

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  • RonJ wrote...
    SURGICAL
    March 7, 2013 1:16 pm
    drone strike.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • messiah101 wrote...
    Ron J
    March 8, 2013 7:19 am
    The GOP can easily win a majority in the Senate and also defeat Cantwell.But the party will need to change directions and start supporting the middle class as well as alter their feelings on social issues.Face it a large segment of the US population who will get health care under Obama would NEVER vote for a GOP candidate,why should they? The GOP is so split that they will be LUCKY to tread water.The Tea Party is you undoing as they are very well unified but a minority within the GOP who controls too much of GOP policy.They had that brief run on the House but they promised Jobs,Job Jobs to be their first concern but have spent no time on Jobs but a lot of time Blocking the US Government
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    HaHa "CRUMBLING"?
    March 7, 2013 9:18 am
    No haha he just WON re-election.Honest,its been in all the papers
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Comments on this thread are shameful
    March 7, 2013 8:29 am
    In the face of a fascinating question, "should the POTUS have the authority to order a drone strike on US soil", we get almost nothing except "The Republitards are this!" or "The libtards are that!" or (lots of) "Obama is the scum of the earth, yada, yada, yada"

    We're almost ripe for the picking. It's taken a couple of decades or so, but we're finally just about stupid enough to be controlled by those who will profit most by doing so. We don't have nation unity anymore. We let that be stripped away from us when both sides, Democrat and Republican, decided that their doctrine, and only their uncompromised doctrine, absolutely had to rule unchallenged in this country.

    The spiteful name calling, finger pointing, and runaway paranoia reflected by most of the comments in this thread illustrate almost perfectly why this country is in trouble. Nothing is considered more threatening than an independent, or contrary opinion.

    Shame on all of us for becoming so weak and frightened.

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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    It is our First Amendment right to be critical of our government.

    We still remember all the calls for President Bush's death by the Left wing.

    March 7, 2013 8:37 am
    Shame on us, Chuck? I see countless Americans, brave Americans, standing up to this oppressive Obama regime every day and resisting this regime and it's Dear Leader. That number grows!

    You have a problem with this? Maybe you can move to another country. Or, better yet, help us make America the proud and free nation that we once were. Free from Obamunism!

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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Thanks for confirming my point, HAHA
    March 7, 2013 8:48 am
    You really believe that the problems we face in the US would be substantially resolved by the election of more Republicans, don't you?

    We are very ripe for the picking.

    Thanks for you suggestion that I "move to another country". Much to your dismay, I'll be staying here. As I noted, when you are weak enough, and frightened enough, nothing is more threatening than an independent or contrasting idea.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    Republicans being in control would really help nothing
    March 7, 2013 9:55 am
    It might seem better for a while, their rhetoric is a little bit better, but when it comes down to it Republicans are just as power hungry and disregard the Constitution as much as Democrats.
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  • RonJ wrote...
    @CldWtrSrf
    March 7, 2013 1:17 pm
    Ditto.
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  • mnpat wrote...
    "As I noted, when you are weak enough, and frightened enough, nothing is more threatening than an independent or contrasting idea."
    March 7, 2013 10:55 am
    Which frieghtens me the most about our current Pres.........he inflates fear, manufactures divide, and knows no bounds of capturing fees and taxes. If anyone can accuse another for failure of an independent or contrasting idea, Obama is at the top of the list.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    pretty much Chuck
    March 7, 2013 8:37 am
    Its very apparent to me that the rule of law is ignored at will because their are no consequences anymore. Waterboarding was wrong and lots of people squealed, but if "your guy" and Nobel Peace Prize winner kills 4,700 people with drones including a U.S. citizen, it's ok. I don't want to sound like a conspiratorial wierdo, but an endless war with no borders against an enemy with no uniform will be the end of us.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    In case you haven't noticed
    March 7, 2013 8:46 am
    A Big change in US gov policy happened when Bush invaded Iraq who had done nothing harmful towards the USA,they got away with that shift in policy without hardly a squawk from the American people this enabled the Government to spread their wings even further.When you can cause disruptions in the world without the loss of American life it becomes too darn easy.What I fear is the use of drones by foreign nation against possible targets in the USA.What if China wanted to take out the Dali Lama and used a drone to shoot a rocket into his hotel room of a vehicle he was travelling in?If Americans were killed would we allow China to simply say "We are sorry for any innocent loss of life" as the USA does when a Drone wipes out a innocent in Afghanistan or Pakistan?
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  • CldWtrSrf wrote...
    So messiah, you are against drone strikes when
    March 7, 2013 10:00 am
    they murder innocent civilians (ordered by Obama), yet it is still all Bush's fault? I agree, Bush took us down a horrible road, but Obama has put the peddle to the metal on it. Does Obama share any guilt in the war crimes that he commits weekly, or is all Bush's fault because "he started it"? How about the Patriot Act that expired and Obama resigned even more beefed up to take our rights? What about the NDAA? Bush never signed that one with indefinate detention.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleNative wrote...
    In case you missed it, mess
    March 7, 2013 1:25 pm
    "Bush" did not invade Iraq. The United States of America invaded Iraq. With the blessing of Congress. With the majority of the world, including Bill Clinton, believing Hussein had WMD and was a threat to the region...you know, after having previously invaded Kuwait, gassing the Kurds, and making threats to go after Israel and all.

    The NDAA was expanded under YOUR choice for POTUS. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Seattle Native
    March 7, 2013 1:55 pm
    Bush LED the charge.It was his war.And if you haven't figured out that the BUSH Administration outright LIED in presenting his case to not only the UN but to the American people and to Congress then there is no use debating the issue
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SeattleNative wrote...
    Which "lie" was that, mess?
    March 7, 2013 3:24 pm
    The intel provided by the 1400 members of the international Iraq Survey Group? The assessment that Saddam was developing unmanned aerial vehicles (drones)...which he was...that could carry chemical (which he had a history of using) or biological weapons to Israel and other targets? Which "lie" exactly, please?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • messiah101 wrote...
    Seattle Native
    March 7, 2013 7:41 pm
    Please give us examples of those Drones and chemical weapons that were found.Of course even if they did have them in their arsenal they NEVER used them against the USA.Tell us WHAT WMDs were found after we occupied Iraq?Even if Saddam had developed drones how would he ever have had the capability to strike the USA with them? He would require SAT guidance and a base near the USA in order for it to work.You Righty SUCKERS believe most any hair blamed B/S if it supports your point of view and your to darn stupid to see how anyone with a computer can destroy your obnoxious B/S easily with FACTS
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  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    no...shame on you Chuckles
    March 7, 2013 8:52 am
    You lament the lack of unity yet support the most divisive administration in our history. The ones who divide us by race, gender, and culture for their own benefit and tell their followers to get in the faces of their "enemies". Pathetic that you would now condemn those enemies for fighting back.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Paul; that whoosing sound you hear is my point....
    March 7, 2013 9:04 am
    flying well over your head.

    The fact that you imagine I "support" division by race, gender and culture, or that I am enthused about the current administration simply confirms that you live in a binary version of reality. Anybody who isn't exactly like you, must be the exact opposite of you? Isn't that right?

    Suggesting that we try to come together to solve problems, (rather than self define as "enemies who are fighting back"), is far from "pathetic" and shouldn't be construed as support for Obama.

    Are you saying, in effect, that we should avoid trying to solve the nation's problems as long as a president you don't care for in is office?

    Paul, if you really think that Obama is trying to divide us, you consider yourself his enemy, and you want to "fight back", then for gosh sakes, why contribute to further division? Why help Obama succeed, if you really believe that's his agenda?

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  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    why fight back, you ask?
    March 7, 2013 9:56 am
    Because it is obvious that playing nice with these fascists will not work. Establishment Republicans have proven that it won't.

    A preacher once said, "He gave arms to drug cartels...he bombed citizens...It's not God bless Obama...No,no,no...it,s God dammn Obama."

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  • SeattleNative wrote...
    If America wanted "unity"...
    March 7, 2013 1:27 pm
    ...they would not have re-elected Obama.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    @ Chuck Gould
    March 7, 2013 10:52 am
    You come across as a typical Faux News RWNJ!

    You probably watch PMSNBC 24/7 and have posters of Ed Shultz pinned up all over your house, right? ;-)

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    As I noted, when you are weak enough, and frightened enough, nothing is more threatening than an independent or contrasting idea.
    March 7, 2013 9:02 am
    And thank you for proving my point, Chuck.

    Care to point out where I said that electing Republicans did or will solve all our problems? Problems caused by Democrats and Obama? Republicans cause enough problems of their own.

    Why would Obama threaten Americans on our own soil with drone strikes? Does this not bother you in the slightest? Even if it is media hype, Did Bush ever make such a threat to Americans? Regime change? President Clinton. Expanding the Patriot act. Obama. FEMA gulags? That is what the left wing media accused Bush of and that Cheney would be running them. Where are they?

    Obama popularity is dropping. We Americans are resisting the Obama campaign promise to "Fundamentally Change" the US. I, like millions of other Americans, do not want the change that Obama and Liberals have in mind. And the Dear Leader does not like resistance.

    Get used to it, Libbies! It is here. It is LOUD and it is PROUD! And not going away until it is done!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • RonJ wrote...
    Already there
    March 7, 2013 9:17 am
    " but we're finally just about stupid enough to be controlled by those who will profit most by doing so. " We're already stoopid enough. Dancing with the Stars, food stamps, and hand out here, a grant there. "Bread and Circuses". The camel is in the tent and but nobody has noticed.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • scottinshoreline wrote...
    Ron J
    March 7, 2013 9:35 am
    You forgot Honey-Boo-Boo
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • RonJ wrote...
    @scottinshoreline
    March 7, 2013 1:20 pm
    That rocks. Nothing could illustrate the point with more clarity than Honey-Boo-Boo. Now if we could only get Messypants his own reality show!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • messiah101 wrote...
    RonJ
    March 8, 2013 7:24 am
    I thought this was a reality show.Now who is that Mr Boo Boo that you seem to adore?
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