Obama Moves To Authorize Domestic Drone Strikes: “The Rules Outside Of The United States Are Going To Be Different Than The Rules Inside Of The United States”
Obama has not only failed to deny that he has such plans, but makes it clear that his administration is working closely with Congress to develop a legal framework that will allow the Chief Executive and his subordinates the leeway to initiate strikes right here at home.
Obama Moves To Authorize Domestic Drone Strikes: “The Rules Outside Of The United States Are Going To Be Different Than The Rules Inside Of The United States”
The Department of Homeland Security recently advanced a plan to deploy “public safety” drones in the skies over America, an action Congress authorized last year and called for the deployment of 30,000 drone surveillance vehicles by 2020.
Well known for his obsession with remote drone attacks, reportedly going so far as to personally sit in on unmanned aerial vehicle missions, the President was recently asked about concerns from American citizens about the possibility of extra-judicial military drone strikes within the borders of the United States.
Obama has not only failed to deny that he has such plans, but makes it clear that his administration is working closely with Congress to develop a legal framework that will allow the Chief Executive and his subordinates the leeway to initiate strikes right here at home.
First of all… there’s never been a drone used on an American citizen, on American soil.
We respect and have a whole bunch of safeguards in terms of how we conduct counter-terrorism operations outside of the United States. The rules outside of the United States are going to be different than the rules inside of the United States.
…
I am the head of the Executive branch and what we’ve done so far is to try to work with Congress on oversight issues.
Part of what I’m going to have to work with Congress on is to make sure that whatever it is we’re providing Congress, that we have mechanisms to also make sure that the public understands what’s going on, what the constraints are, what the legal parameters are.
That’s something that I take very seriously.
I am not somebody who believes that the President has the authority to do whatever he wants or whatever she wants, whenever they want, just under the guise of counter-terrorism.
There have to be checks and balances on it.
One can only conclude that military and law enforcement drone strikes will soon be business as usual, and likely the preferred method for dealing with, as the Patriot Act outlines, those who “intimidate or coerce the civilian population” or attempt to “influence government policy” – pretty much anyone who disagrees with what the government is doing.
As Chris Carrington rightly points out about pre-emptive government prosecution, under the National Defense Authorization Act “individuals who have committed no crime can be arrested and incarcerated at the will of the government without proven cause.” Will this new legal framework now expand on Patriot Act and NDAA to allow for a militarized government response to potential threats?
With drones, such incidents would be reduced or all but eliminated right? This legal framework being developed by President Obama’s administration with the help of Congress would ensure that no innocents will be killed, right? Law enforcement and military would never target criminals or terrorists if it would endanger innocent Americans who might be in their direct vicinity, right?
And never would they be used to target American citizens unless actionable intelligence of an impending threat was real and confirmed by, as President Obama notes, a “whole bunch of safeguards.”
To paraphrase President Obama, Diane Feinstein and the many Congressional representatives who support a safer America, it’s time we start disarming those who have access to these weapons of mass destruction. These military style assault weapons have no use in hunting or sporting, and have no business being on the streets of America.
When it hits the fan, don’t say we didn’t warn you. Mac Slavo is the editor of SHTFplan.com, a resource hub for alternative news, contrarian commentary and strategies that you can take to protect yourself from the coming global paradigm shift.
When it hits the fan, don't say we didn't warn you. Mac Slavo is the editor of SHTFplan.com, a resource hub for alternative news, contrarian commentary and strategies that you can take to protect yourself from the coming global paradigm shift.