US drone strikes being used as alternative to Guantánamo, lawyer says

[Freddie Stubbs]

Last edited Thu May 2, 2013, 12:00 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: The Guardian

The lawyer who first drew up White House policy on lethal drone strikes has accused the Obama administration of overusing them because of its reluctance to capture prisoners that would otherwise have to be sent to Guantánamo Bay.

John Bellinger, who was responsible for drafting the legal framework for targeted drone killings while working for George W Bush after 9/11, said he believed their use had increased since because President Obama was unwilling to deal with the consequences of jailing suspected al-Qaida members.

"This government has decided that instead of detaining members of al-Qaida [at Guantánamo] they are going to kill them," he told a conference at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Obama this week pledged to renew efforts to shut down the jail but has previously struggled to overcome congressional opposition, in part due to US disagreements over how to handle suspected terrorists and insurgents captured abroad.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/02/us-drone-strikes-guantanamo

[Demeter]

1. They call them surgical strikes

because they don't even have to bury their failures...

[snappyturtle]

2. I hope this is just spin in an attempt to make the President look bad.

I suppose drones would be justifiable if they only hit their targets....
still not good.

[KoKo]

3. Could you fix the link...doesn't go to article...

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. Doh!

Fixed

[OKNancy]

4. ODS

Obama Derangement Syndrome

[geek tragedy]

5. This is actually fairly predictable.

There are a lot more problems created by trying to and successfully taking an AQ operative alive than there are created by killing him.

Perverse incentive.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

7. The difference between black and white.

I think what Mr. Bellinger is really saying is, "when a white guy was doing it, it was OK. Now that a black guy is doing it, it's bad."

[Arctic Dave]

8. I think it goes deeper then this.

Now that we know they have been used as a bargaining chip to get special favor from Pakistan. We also know now that most of these strikes are on low level jihadist or random gatherings.