The Drone Defense

At least they're being forced to come up with one. That's some consolation.

[Obama aide John Brennan:] "Yes, in full accordance with the law - and in order to prevent terrorist attacks on the United States and to save American lives - the United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al-Qaeda terrorists, sometimes using remotely piloted aircraft, often referred to publicly as drones," John Brennan said in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington.

Brennan said President Barack Obama had asked the administration to be more open about the drone programme.

He defended the attacks as legal and noted broad discussion about the use of the strikes.

[...]

The American Civil Liberties Union, a longstanding critic of the tactic, welcomed the acknowledgement of the programme but said Brennan did not provide sufficient legal justification.

"Mr Brennan supplies legal conclusions, not legal analysis," Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer said in a statement.

[...]

A suspected US drone strike most recently left four dead in Pakistan, and the issue has proved a major hurdle in relations with Islamabad."We continue to believe that the administration should release the Justice Department memos underlying the programme - particularly the memo that authorises the extra judicial killing of American terrorism suspects."

Following an attack that left two dozen Pakistani soldiers dead last year, Islamabad has demanded a halt to the drone programme before reopening NATO supply routes through its territory.

  alJazeera

While Brennan was speaking, [CodePink activist Medea] Benjamin stood up in the audience and began giving her own speech for more than one minute.

“What about the hundreds of innocent people we are killing with our drone strikes in Pakistan and in Yemen and Somalia?” she said. “I speak out on behalf of those innocent victims. They deserve an apology from you Mr. Brennan. How many people are you willing to sacrifice, why are you lying to the American people and not saying how many innocents have been killed?”

“I speak out on behalf of the Constitution,” Benjamin continued, while she was being dragged out of the auditorium by security guards. “I love the rule of law, I love my country. You are making us less safe by killing so many innocent people around the world.”

  Raw Story