I saw this very insightful report on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell yesterday. Yet somehow, because it removes the sensationalism and hysteria found in most recent news reports, the information given in to Ms. Mitchell is grossly under reported.
Justice Departments Memo Describing Legal Case for Drone Strikes on Americans
Mike Rogers Interview on Andrea Mitchell: Video
TPM Livewire
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that “there is oversight” on the Obama administration’s drone strikes against U.S. citizens who are believed to be senior al-Qaeda leaders.
“I review all of the air strikes that we use under this title of the law,” he told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. Rogers added that Americans who decide to join al-Qaeda become enemies of the U.S. “If you have someone who has joined this organization, and they may not be engaged in plot a today, but part of an organization plotting to kill Americans, and so they’ve joined the enemy. So you don’t just kill the enemy when they’re at the gate.”
Rogers insisted there is not a long list of Americans on any “kill list.” “I can candidly tell you that,” he said.
Related articles
- House Intel Chair on White House drone policy: “There is oversight” (tv.msnbc.com)
- Leaked Justice Department Memo Reveals Legal Case for Targeted Killings of US Citizens (dprogram.net)
- Reports: Secret U.S. drone base in Mideast (news.yahoo.com)
- DOJ memo justifies drone kills of U.S. citizens abroad (anirrationalviewoftheirrational.wordpress.com)
- White House, Congress square off over Justice Dept. rules for drone strikes (thehill.com)
- Secret American Drone Base In Saudi Arabia Revealed (newsy.com)
- Rogers Defends Drone Strikes (freebeacon.com)
- OLC Drones Memo Should Be Released, Says House Intel Chair Mike Rogers (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
- Obama to give white paper on targeted killings to Congress (wtvr.com)
- OLC Drones Memo Should Be Released: House Intel Chair Mike Rogers (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
I think this fellow has missed a huge point. There a whole bunch of people who hate the U.S. or don’t trust us, or whatever. Are all these people an imminent threat to the U.S., and do we want to hunt all of them down with drones, killing innocent people who may get caught “in the cross fire”?
When you do that, you have now created more people who hate the U.S.. When does it end? Well, it doesn’t because no one wants to take a step back, to pause and really think about the consequences.
And does anyone truly believe there’s oversight?
And I’ve got another question? How can you tell who is a member of al-Qaeda? I’ve often wondered about that? Do they wear certain kinds of arm bands or a special kind of garb? I really want to know, and I’m not trying to be a “smart ass”. It’s a legitimate question.
One more thing and then I’m done. If you torture me (and I have no connection to any hate groups), I might just point the finger at anyone, just to have the pain stop. Like that guy in the FBI said, there’s probably much better ways to get at the truth.