My son, who preferred Obama over Romney had some pretty startling things to say............

[fujiyama]

154. Your son obviously is smart enough to see the long term consequences

and despite whatever misgivings he has over Obama's foreign policy voted for him - that shows maturity. I think it's good that he thinks for himself. With age comes perspective however, and while there are aspects of Obama's foreign policy that can be frustrating or even downright disturbing (kill lists, especially with American citizens on them should be of great concern for all of us), the contrasts between Bush and Obama are great. Otherwise, the neocons wouldn't have been so desperate to boot Obama out. We should all be thankful they lost. A Romney presidency would have meant a much greater probability of a full scale war against Iran.

The drone strikes and the innocent civilians killed due to them is and should be a moral concern for us all. I view them as a necessary evil though mainly because there few if any alternatives. The fact is that terrorist cells do operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan with impunity. The governments in those countries (as well as those like Yemen) are unable and often unwilling to cooperate. Unless we as a nation are willing to commit and risk our troops' lives to eliminate these targets, drones will be continued to be used.

I'd advise him to do some more reading from different sides of the issue. There are definitely issues with the way (and the frequency with which) they are used, but if it comes down to risking soldiers' lives or sending a drone to kill known terrorists, it's preferable to send in the drone. This may sound cold, but I'm guessing that's the rationale the administration is making when launching these strikes. Ideally the governments would clamp down harder on these groups.