Free Republic
Browse · Search
GOP Club
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why President Obama is losing the drone war
The Politico ^ | March 8, 2013 | Josh Gerstein

Posted on 03/08/2013 12:49:03 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

President Barack Obama tried Thursday to offer a simple assurance: He isn’t claiming the power to have drones kill an American not “engaged in combat” on U.S. soil.

The statement, delivered in the form of a 43-word letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), seemed intended to provide the unequivocal declaration Paul and his supporters were demanding when he mounted a nearly 13-hour, old-fashioned filibuster on the Senate floor Wednesday.

“We really had success,” Paul told POLITICO in an interview Thursday afternoon. “We got the president to respond, and the answer we finally got from the president was, I think, the answer we had been looking for all along.”

The letter quieted the drone flap and allowed the confirmation vote on John Brennan to be CIA director. But it didn’t resolve several key questions — how broadly “engaged in combat” can be defined, for one — and didn’t come close to addressing the legal and policy issues swirling around the Obama administration’s drone campaign overseas.

What the administration’s recent responses did make clear: Despite questions lingering for years about the increased use of drones, the flurry of attention to the issue this week caught the Obama White House by surprise. The White House appears to have misjudged the downside of its stances on transparency and how it could bend existing legal principles to justify the program — complicated by political miscalculations, fumbles by the attorney general and growing concern among some segments of the public....

(Excerpt) Read more at dyn.politico.com ...


TOPICS: Kentucky; Issues; Parties; U.S. Senate
KEYWORDS: drones; ericholder; filibuster; obama; randpaul
He'll use them against us, guaranteed.
1 posted on 03/08/2013 12:49:03 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Yup. He’ll just have Eric Holder “deem” criticism of his programs to be “combat.” The Justice Department will issue a “finding.” The MSM will solemnly nod their heads in agreement.


2 posted on 03/08/2013 12:52:47 PM PST by Steely Tom (If the Constitution can be a living document, I guess a corporation can be a person.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

anyone notice how quiet the left base is over this? Hello antiwar left? Are you still out there?


3 posted on 03/08/2013 12:54:35 PM PST by libdestroyer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded,” said candidate Obama in a Colorado campaign speech in July, 2008


4 posted on 03/08/2013 1:01:59 PM PST by GBA (Here in the Matrix, life is but a dream.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Yep,
Soon if you are at any protest rally against this marxist turd he’ll have some geek controlling a drone shoot ya with a hellfire of some such.
Kim from North Korea is my new hero.
Hey kim, just do it.


5 posted on 03/08/2013 1:10:03 PM PST by Joe Boucher ((FUBO))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Imagine it’s, oh, the post WWII era, and Eisenhower announced that his administration will now be flying radio-controlled bombers over America, and if the president decides someone is a threat, well then, without any further legal process whatsoever, bombs will be dropped on that person.

Just step back and try - try - to imagine that.

And then, because that’s not enough, imagine Republican senators screaming in outrage that anyone would question the president in this matter.

Palin was right - stick a fork in us, we’re done.


6 posted on 03/08/2013 1:41:39 PM PST by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

The zero is losing nothing. It’s impossible.


7 posted on 03/08/2013 1:45:56 PM PST by albie (re)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Why President Obama is losing the drone war


Because he WANTS to lose it.. Duuuugh...


8 posted on 03/08/2013 1:49:50 PM PST by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

After reading the entire article, I am just mystified where the mindset of these beltway insiders is permanently stuck. Theirs is a paradigm from a decade or more ago, where everything is Dem vs. GOP and discussing constitutional matters doesn’t even show up on their radar.


9 posted on 03/08/2013 1:55:44 PM PST by EricT. (The Second Amendment is Tyrant Control.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
"...the drone war."

It this like the Clone Wars?
10 posted on 03/08/2013 2:07:25 PM PST by FortWorthPatriot ("If this be treason, make the most of it." - Patrick Henry, 30 May 1765)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

HOLDER, DO NOT TELL US THE IMPROBABILITY OF SUCH A SITUATION. All I can scream is WACO! If there would have been drones during the Waco standoff, drones would have been Reno’ s weapon of choice against those AMERICANS and their children. Ruby Ridge, the entire area would have been nuked. I have no idea why NO ONE is asking Holder what the effing difference is between an artillery tank and a drone, except for technology. Ask the jerk what he would have done faced with both of these situations.


11 posted on 03/08/2013 2:17:32 PM PST by Toespi
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Big Brother Barack
Wants to give us all
A “Fair Shot.”

Could be a Silver Bullet?
Or an Obamadrone?
Or maybe a Breitbart drink - - - ?


12 posted on 03/08/2013 2:17:47 PM PST by Graewoulf ((Traitor John Roberts' Commune Obama"care" violates Anti-Trust Laws, AND the U.S. Constitution.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

I will donate a dollar for the first citizen that shoots one down.

I need a picture.


13 posted on 03/08/2013 2:22:05 PM PST by hadaclueonce (Forget Mexico. Put the border fence around California.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Graewoulf

14 posted on 03/08/2013 2:44:38 PM PST by Travis McGee (www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: libdestroyer
Torture was wrong because they knew Booosh was a big oil liar who was depriving terrorists from other nations their constitutional rights....

On the other hand, just killing them without arresting them is right because we know Odumbo would never deprive them of their constitutional rights.....or something.....

15 posted on 03/08/2013 2:48:21 PM PST by Lakeshark (!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

I heard there were 64 US drone bases and thousands of drones on order... how is he losing? The same way he lost ObamaCare?


16 posted on 03/08/2013 2:58:23 PM PST by GeronL (http://asspos.blogspot.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GeronL

There are nice private drones available starting at $200:

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680186/coming-soon-a-100-drone-to-do-your-bidding#1

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/14/out-of-hobby-class-drones-lifting-off-for-personal/?page=all


17 posted on 03/08/2013 3:05:34 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (I'll raise $2million for Sarah Palin's presidential run. What'll you do?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]


18 posted on 03/08/2013 6:15:22 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
GOP Club
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson