Drones, predators really, are preying on al Qaeda in Land of the Pure at an alarming rate and it is wickedly hot!
"Counterterrorism “on offense” has done better, ironically, under an administration that hoped it could just play counterterrorism on defense—wind down wars, wish away the threat as a bad dream from the Bush years, hope the whole business would fade away so it could focus on health care. Yet for all that, the Obama administration, through Predator strikes, is taking the fight to the enemy.
"And, let’s face it, in dealing with terrorist groups in ungoverned places in the world, we have few good options besides UAVs. Drones permit the United States to go directly after terrorists, rather than having to fight through whole countries to reach them.
"Maybe that’s not enough to win. Maybe “light-footprint” counterterrorism via drones turns out to be just the latest chimera in the perennial effort to find a way to win a war through strategic airpower.
"Yet even in a serious counterinsurgency on the ground, drones will still be important as a means of attacking terrorists while clearing and holding territory.
"The upshot? As long as we engage in counterterrorism, drones will be a critical part of our offense.
Plus - by happy happenstance, righteous kills are totally legit!
"Targeted killings of terrorists, including by Predators and even when the targets are American citizens, are a lawful practice;
"Use of force is justified against terrorists anywhere they set up safe havens, including in states that cannot or will not prevent them;
"These operations may be covert—and they are as justifiable when the CIA is tasked to carry them out secretly as when the military does so in open armed conflict.
"All of the above fall within the traditional American legal view of “self-defense” in international law, and “vital national security interests” in U.S. domestic law.
Sweet!
Pic "The Only Game In Town"
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