Obama explains drone war to Americans
US: President Barack Obama said Thursday that Americans needed more
than just his word to be assured he was not misusing his powers in
waging a secret drone war overseas.
The President was asked about the debate over the deadly tactic, a
backbone of the US campaign against Al-Qaeda, and whether the
Constitution allows the use of drones against Americans who have turned
against their country.
“It is not sufficient for citizens to just take my word for it that
we are doing the right thing,” Obama told an online forum sponsored by
Google.
The President, who has said he is working with Congress to provide
more oversight of the clandestine drone war against Al-Qaeda, was also
asked what was to stop the US government from using unmanned aerial
vehicles at home.
“There has never been a drone used on an American citizen on American
soil,” Obama said in the Google Plus “Fireside Hangout.” “The rules
outside the United States are going to be different than the rules
inside of the United States in part because our capacity, for example,
to capture terrorists in the United States is going to be very different
than in the foothills or mountains of Afghanistan or Pakistan. Debate
about the use of drones has slowly been mounting following the September
2011 killing in Yemen of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a senior Al-Qaeda
operative who was an American citizen.
The president said that he was working with Congress to ensure that
the public was also able to understand the constraints and legal
rationales of the US drone war.
“I am not somebody who believes that the president has the authority
to do whatever he wants, or whatever she wants, whenever they want, just
under the guise of counter terrorism,” he added. “There have to be
checks and balances on it.” Some observers, including prominent
senators, are considering whether a special court should monitor the
secret drone war.
Missiles fired from unmanned aircraft have become the Obama
administration's weapons of choice in its war against Al-Qaeda.
The administration's legal rationale for the targeted killings was
leaked to the media ahead of Senate hearings last week on the nomination
of Obama's top counter- terrorism adviser John Brennan to head the CIA.
AFP |