US Drone Strikes
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-05-31/us-drone-strikes
The Obama administration has stepped up the use of drone strikes to kill suspected al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan. Join us to discuss legal and ethical issues over U.S drone attacks.
Guests
Scott Shane
reporter, The New York Times
John Bellinger
partner, Arnold & Porter
senior fellow,the Council on Foreign Relations.
former legal adviser for the National Security Council and the Department of State during the George W Bush administration.
Shuja Nawaz
director, South Asia center, Atlantic Council
and author of "Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army, and the Wars Within."
Hina Shamsi
director, national security project, ACLU
Comments
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Wars must be fought with something.
You all complain when we send flesh and blood into harm's way - and perhaps rightly so.
Now there is a way to fight without risking the life and limb of our most precious resource.
You still complain.
thanks35 wrote: 'Arkus Duntov, so McCain's policy that it would be acceptable to stay in Iraq like we are still in Korea would have been better? And his judgment to pick Palin for VP would have been better? Your comment on Obama is ridiculous.'
No, your comment is ridiculous. I don't think any republican could have won in 08, however there were far more "qualified" democrats running in the primary and they were all thrown overboard for an inept fool. By the way we still have a presence in Iraq, did a fast check on the numbers could not find it yet, we will be there or close by indefinitely just like Korea don't fool yourself.
"Orinocle wrote:
Insightful comment. I posted the article about our local law enforcement agencies purchasing DRONES and the specter of DRONES in our urban venues coupled with racial profiling is of a great concern!!
May 31, 2012 - 10:51 am"
After an off-duty DC cop found his motor scooter missing, he and another ODC went out looking for it.
They found a kid on a scooter who they killed on the spot, claiming he had fired a gun at them, then drove off leaving everything where it lay. Probably left to shoot holes in their car to bolster their claim that the kid had a gun and fired at them.
They returned to the scene and reported to the cop headquarters.
DC had, like many cities, a Shot-Spotter System which triangulates on the sounds of gunshots and locates the positions from which the shots were fired.
The shots were detected and located by Metro, yet nothing was done until the ODC murderers called in. Their story was gossamer thin and didn't make any sense, but it got the slime off the hook.
All the high-tech BS that the cops buy is primarily to protect the cops and p_ss on the Citizenry. If that had happened after dark, without witnesses, it would have been reported as just another Gang killing and would have confirmed my suspicion that nearly all Urban killings of Blacks is done by the cops.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
"jturne01 wrote:
I have a question, what happens when other countries try and use the same technology against us? How would we feel if there were Drones flying around our neighborhood chasing down a terrorist? What if the tables were turned. We can't honestly believe that we will always have complete control over this technology.
May 31, 2012 - 10:36 am"
While the righteous Man (or Woman) hopes the Murderer will be smitten by his own sword, I wouldn't hold out much hope for Drone Justice.
While the communications links that control our drones are sophisticated, they are nevertheless easily jammed, rendering them useless.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
"Robert Pates wrote:
From the point of view of the military industrial companies, their lobbyists, and war profiteers in this country -- if 9/11 had not happened it would be necessary to make it happen...
May 31, 2012 - 11:48 am"
I'm forced to admit that I don't know how the clumsy, dense little Runt, Bush pulled off 9/11, but the fingerprints of the filthy, treasonous, murdering Bushes are indelibly stamped on the WTC I and African Embassy Bombings and subsequent cover-ups.
There is one more reason, "to make it happen", that you overlooked- since the end of WWII, the secret history of the Republic is filled with the treachery, brutality and treason of the Bushes and their CIA.
All the Former Friends of the Bushes had to be hunted down and silenced, bin Laden, Hinckley, Khadaffy, Saddam, Edwin Wilson, Noreiga, too many to count, but nearly all gone and telling no tales.
The Media is quietly cleansing its Archives of the Bush Crimes as it did for the Runt's Grandfather, Prescott Bush.
Loved your CFR Fellow Guest's spirited defense of the Runt, just one correction though, Bonesmen don't, "Take it on the chin", but elsewhere. Are they still attending the Bohemian Grove Revels??
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
mchaun wrote:
"While the communications links that control our drones are sophisticated, they are nevertheless easily jammed, rendering them useless."
Ol' monte, still speaking from ignorance.
Read up on current drone capability. No communication necessary. Just program 'em with the GPS coordinates you want to hit and let 'em fly.
"While the righteous Man (or Woman) hopes the Murderer will be smitten by his own sword, I wouldn't hold out much hope for Drone Justice."
Drone Justice? Killing innocent AMERICANS? That would make you happy? That would be "justice" for you?! Why do you hate America, monte?
monte, you are absoutely certifiable. I laughed out loud at the absurdity of this last one.
"I'm forced to admit that I don't know how the clumsy, dense little Runt, Bush pulled off 9/11, but the fingerprints of the filthy, treasonous, murdering Bushes are indelibly stamped on the WTC ...."
So. His "fingerprints" are there, but you don't know how he did it? He's dense, but you can't figure it out? Are you even denser then?
This is as bad a case of BDS as I think I've ever seen.
"ecgberht wrote:
mchaun wrote:
"While the communications links that control our drones are sophisticated, they are nevertheless easily jammed, rendering them useless."
Ol' monte, still speaking from ignorance.
{{5 Years in Aircraft Controls Systems and RPVs. 10 Years in State of the Art RADAR Development}}
"Read up on current drone capability. No communication necessary. Just program 'em with the GPS coordinates you want to hit and let 'em fly."
{{That's not how Predator Drones normally work}}
"While the righteous Man (or Woman) hopes the Murderer will be smitten by his own sword, I wouldn't hold out much hope for Drone Justice."
Drone Justice? Killing innocent AMERICANS? That would make you happy? That would be "justice" for you?! Why do you hate America, monte?
May 31, 2012 - 3:21 pm
{{I spent my entire career working on the weapon systems that have helped protect our Nation and Military. I hope my work saved lives.
Now what did you do for your Country in your capacity as the World's worst informed creep, unable to mount even the simplest of arguments, yet determined to poke your nose into areas about which you know nothing.}}
new
ecgberht wrote:
monte, you are absoutely certifiable. I laughed out loud at the absurdity of this last one.
"I'm forced to admit that I don't know how the clumsy, dense little Runt, Bush pulled off 9/11, but the fingerprints of the filthy, treasonous, murdering Bushes are indelibly stamped on the WTC ...."
So. His "fingerprints" are there, but you don't know how he did it? He's dense, but you can't figure it out? Are you even denser then?
This is as bad a case of BDS as I think I've ever seen.
May 31, 2012 - 3:26 pm
{{Still can't read, eh? I wrote WTC I you dummy!!
I promised myself to not get involved in any more of your circular shoot from the hips, my only reason for responding is to make sure the other DRShow Posters are not misinformed.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com }}
"That's not how Predator Drones normally work"
My only reason for responding is to make sure the other DRShow Posters are not misinformed
Do they have the capability of uninterrupted communications (read NO communications to target or not?)! Be careful how you answer so as not to look stupid and yes, misinformed.
"yet determined to poke your nose into areas about which you know nothing"
Apparently I know more than you, Radar.
And I prove it every time you try to post your garbage. Eventually, you slink away only to try to misinform another day.
WTC I?! Here's what you said: "I'm forced to admit that I don't know how the clumsy, dense little Runt, Bush pulled off 9/11"
That is not WTC I. Two towers collapsed Do you even KNOW what you mean?
And still begs the point, if Bush was dense, yet (assuming you mean) brought down WTC I (which makes you a truther and a loon) and you don't know how he did it, ergo, he's smarter than you.
Hmm... Doesn't sound certifiable to me.
Sounds as if he's sick and tired of the US official hypocrisy and lies -- as indeed we all surely should be if we can get past the "US Exceptionalism" blinders and still be thinking straight. After all, it's now officially admitted that -- at least -- the US invasion of Iraq was based on falsehoods.
In large part US "interests" (i.e. interfering) it was (and is) about OIL and geopolitics. How would we feel if Middle Eastern countries sent hundreds of thousands of heavily armed troops to the US -- on false pretenses -- to plunder our natural resources -- and killing entire wedding parties with automated weaponized drones (by mistake -- oops!! -- but no apologies from the US government) -- then brazenly lied about it to the rest of the world? Why do people in this country rarely stop to consider how stuff like this would play in Peoria? We'd go ballistic!! Why do people in the US believe that people in foreign countries are so different?
Basically, we can't afford to believe anything we're told by the Power-Fawning Corporate Media. That includes Diane Rehm and her carefully selected "guests".
Er .. No -- You're wrong -- 3 (Three) towers collapsed on 9/11. WTC 1, WTC 2, and WTC 7 -- check your facts, matey!
Note WTC 7 fell down late in the day, into it's own footprint, all on the basis of alleged "fire damage". Never happened before or since.
And people wonder why the "official" 9/11 storyline is doubted. Like I said, we can't afford to believe anything from official sources. Even if they tell you the date -- check your own calendar.
"ecgberht wrote:
"That's not how Predator Drones normally work"
My only reason for responding is to make sure the other DRShow Posters are not misinformed
Do they have the capability of uninterrupted communications (read NO communications to target or not?)! Be careful how you answer so as not to look stupid and yes, misinformed.
"yet determined to poke your nose into areas about which you know nothing"
Apparently I know more than you, Radar.
And I prove it every time you try to post your garbage. Eventually, you slink away only to try to misinform another day.
WTC I?! Here's what you said: "I'm forced to admit that I don't know how the clumsy, dense little Runt, Bush pulled off 9/11"
That is not WTC I. Two towers collapsed Do you even KNOW what you mean?
And still begs the point, if Bush was dense, yet (assuming you mean) brought down WTC I (which makes you a truther and a loon) and you don't know how he did it, ergo, he's smarter than you.
May 31, 2012 - 5:39 pm"
Here is what I wrote, you GD Psychopath--
I'm forced to admit that I don't know how the clumsy, dense little Runt, Bush pulled off 9/11, but the fingerprints of the filthy, treasonous, murdering Bushes are indelibly stamped on the WTC I and African Embassy Bombings and subsequent cover-ups.
And here is what "WTC I" refers to--
"1993 World Trade Center bombing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Trade_Center_bombing
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing occurred on February 26, 1993, when a truck bomb was detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in .."
Please leave me alone.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
"Sounds as if he's sick and tired of the US official hypocrisy and lies -- as indeed we all surely should be if we can get past the "US Exceptionalism" blinders and still be thinking straight."
I thought the subject was the use of drones, not re-arguing the Iraq war, but whatever.
You, and the rest of the left have once again conflated "American Exceptionalism" with "American Perfectionism.
" (Three) towers collapsed on 9/11. WTC 1, WTC 2, and WTC 7"
That would be three "buildings", not three towers, Robert, check your facts - I used the word purposefully. They weren't called the "twin towers" for nothing and I've never heard of twin anything where there were actually three, but I will accept the clarification.
" we can't afford to believe anything from official sources"
I get where you're coming from, but that's a bit of a too-broad statement for me.
I debated mchaun's use of "WTC 1" and considered the 1993 bombing, yet he referred to 9/11 so the only sensible conclusion I could reach was that somehow he believed that GWB brought down WTC 1 in 2001. Now it seems he DID mean the 1993 bombing - that, in fact GWB was responsible for at least two bombings plus 9/11. That qualifies as certifiable, Robert.
" Never happened before or since."
Oh ... one more thing, two planes flying into sky scrapers? Also never happened before or since.
"GD Psychopath--"?
You shouldn't curse, mchaun. It makes you look small
"Please leave me alone."
You shouldn't beg, mchaun. It makes you look weak.
If you want to be left alone, don't post goofy conspiracy stuff for which you have zero evidence which is based on nothing more than your hatred for George W Bush.
"johnandere wrote:
I debated mchaun's use of "WTC 1" and considered the 1993 bombing, yet he referred to 9/11 so the only sensible conclusion I could reach was that somehow he believed that GWB brought down WTC 1 in 2001.
May 31, 2012 - 9:47 pm
I guess you, like your Right Wing, Fellow Traveler, Eggbert, can't read either.
For the Fourth time, I wrote WTCI ie Roman Numeral I, ie. Sans Serif, ie. the widely accepted name for the 1993 Bombing. Furthermore, 9/11 did not involve Bombings.
Please leave me alone.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
"I guess you, like your Right Wing, Fellow Traveler, Eggbert, can't read either."
Oh I can read perfectly well, mchaun. Don't confuse my reading ability with your inability to clearly express yourself. WTC I is also a common reference to one of two towers that fell - ask your buddy Robert why don'tcha? And used in proximity to a 9/11 reference it's ambiguious.
Sans Serif is a font. The font isn't the problem. But none of that is all that interesting - or important. You were able to clarify in your second post.
"9/11 did not involve Bombings."
Glad to hear you admit it! At least you're ahead of Robert in that respect. He's a truther. So let me get this straight. GWB orchestrated 9/11, but you don't know how he did it, but it wasn't explosives, it was, in fact, the airplanes hijacked by terrorists ... which he hired? I'm really interested in your theory on this, mchuan.
"Please leave me alone."
Spoken like one who is not that confident in his positions and would prefer not to be challenged on them.
Diane --
I couldn’t make a comment before now; there was just too much smoke coming out of my ears.
Your panel was discussing the various drone programs, and debating whether the government should be allowed to kill people at long distance, without trial or other legal niceties. We got a thorough airing of the legal precedent argument, the slippery-slope problem – an entire galaxy of difficulties.
My question is (would have been), what planet were these people living on when members of this same gang of thugs murdered three thousand Americans, the greatest death toll on U. S. soil since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor? How are these knife-wielding “martyrs” different from the pilots of those Jap torpedo bombers? (Yes, I’m old enough to remember WW II, and yes, we called them Japs back then.)
Perhaps you could convene another panel – of family members of Ft. Hood soldiers who were murdered on their own base by one of their own officers. I’d be curious to see how that discussion would go.
Perhaps, instead of spending all that money on drones and such, we could send Dennis Kucinich to the tribal lands of Pakistan, the hills of Yemen, or maybe to call on the ayatollahs in Teheran. We could get him to ask people nicely, “Please don’t hurt us!” Now that should do it. Just think: we could disband the armed services. Imagine how much money that’d save..
Folks, there are people out there who are trying to kill us. This seems fairly simple. What is not to understand about wanting to get them before they succeed – again?
Thanks Diane – I enjoy your program because it keeps my blood pressure up – and sometimes at my age that’s important!
Bgard