Thread: Obama Drones

3/7/2013
What Democrats Won’t Vote On — And Why Yesterday’s Filibuster Was So Important
Patterico @ 7:33 am

Mary Katherine Ham has the language of the “sense of the Senate” resolution that Rand Paul wanted passed: http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives...low-a-vote-on/

Resolved, that it is the sense of the Senate that:

1. The use of drones to execute, or to target, American citizens on American soil who pose no imminent threat clearly violates the Constitutional due process rights of citizens.

2. The American people deserve a clear, concise, and unequivocal public statement from the President of the United States that contains detailed legal reasoning, included but not limited to the balance between national security and due process, limits of executive power and distinction between treatment of citizens and non-citizens within and outside the borders of the United States, the use of lethal force against American citizens, and the use of drones in the application of lethal force within the United States territory.

That bold language is important, because (as I argued yesterday) a President has to have the right to act in a 9/11 situation where a Flight 93 remains in the air. If Paul’s filibuster was not a partisan issue where we decry executive overreach only when the other guy is in office — and it wasn’t — we have to devise rules that make sense regardless of who is in the Oval Office. Senator Dick “Dick” Durbin raised the Flight 93 issue with Sen. Paul last night, who acknowledged that everyone agrees a Flight 93 situation poses a different question.

But when you have no imminent threat — when an American citizen is sitting at a cafe (Paul’s and Sen. Cruz’s example) on U.S. soil — the government has no Constitutional right to simply snuff him out with a drone. This would seem such a simple proposition. Why wouldn’t Senators bring it to a vote? Why wouldn’t Obama make a clear statement to that effect?

A report says that Brennan’s nomination can still be filibustered, because Mitch McConnell gave his blessing to opposing cloture. That report was filed before Durbin came in at the end of Paul’s filibuster and uttered some sort of parliamentiary incantation, and I’m not positive it’s true. I hope it is.

There is a collection of videos from yesterday’s filibuster here. http://www.youtube.com/user/NROVideos?feature=watch

To whet your appetite, here is one in which Paul calls Obama a hypocrite on civil liberties: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krGFg...layer_embedded

Paul makes the point, as I say above, that the law has to apply to everyone, because you never know who’s coming next.

Senator Rand Paul ✔ @SenRandPaul
When your government won't tell you they don't have the power to do something, they're telling you they do have that power.

12:04 AM - 07 Mar 13

Finally, I said this last night and I stil believe it: this event was far more important than most in the media realize. The filibuster made the front page of the L.A. Times, but it was only part of a larger story centered around the debate prompted by the white paper on drone attacks. I think what happened yesterday went beyond the issue of drone attacks. Conservatives saw, at long last, two men (Rand Paul and Ted Cruz) willing to literally stand up for what they believe in. It felt like the first time that had happened since Ronald Reagan. It was inspirational, and it won’t soon be forgotten.

http://patterico.com/2013/03/07/what...-wont-vote-on/

comments

Paul makes the point, as I say above, that the law has to apply to everyone, because you never know who’s coming next.

Would the dems be so blase' if this were going on under the Bush Administration ?

...

Commence the Leftist smear machine on Paul and Cruz. At least they didnt drink bottled water.

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3.Remember all that Democrat outrage about Bush and his supposed immense assault on freedom? All the claims of “warcrimes”?

All lies.

Imagine my surprise.

...

Seems it is horrible to interrogate them, or imprison them. Just fine to vaporize them.

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I agree, which is why I commend Patterico for calling attention to this most important filibuster.

This is not a Republican and/or TEA Party issue, this is an American issue for which we must all be concerned.

In my mind, this story goes back at least to Lyndon Johnson with his Gulf of Tonkin incident, and to George W Bush with his false WMD justification, and now to Barack Obama with his authority grab for the use of drones, perhaps even on American citizens.

This is not an issue about now CIA Director Brennan, rather it is an issue about transparency and telling the truth, therefore it transcends political parties and goes to the core of who we are as a nation.

Now let us seize the moment by acting against undue secrecy and hidden agendas, instead by promoting policies of which we can be proud. Let us turn off the dysfunction and turn on collegiality where we begin working together again for the good of all people.

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12.But when you have no imminent threat — when an American citizen is sitting at a cafe (Paul’s and Sen. Cruz’s example) on U.S. soil — the government has no Constitutional right to simply snuff him out with a drone.

Technically they’re snuffing him out with a Hellfire missile. The Hellfire has been around since the 80s. How did we get along for 30 years without using this valuable crimefighting tool domestically? I think I know the answer to that question. Barack Obama is destined to go down in history as Tricky Dick Nixon with an air force.

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I don’t care about drones _per se_; I think drones are a red herring and the real issue is what level of due process is used for domestic non-police police activity.

Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC explains ‘How Empty Headed Rand Paul’s Stunt Was’
03/08/2013

Lawrence O’Donnell launched a string verbal attacks against Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster. O’Donnell backing his arguments against the courageous Senator using a video of floor comments by the Republican old guard and dinner mates of President Obama – John McCain and Lindsey Graham.

While both of O’Donnell’s guest tried to have a reasonable discussion Lawrence could not resist continual attacks on Senator Paul’s character:

O’Donnell calls Rand Paul ‘Horribly Flawed Messenger’

and ‘how Empty Headed Rand Paul’s stunt was’

and ‘He said things that were a little bit more than Crazy‘

and ‘Rand Paul Pretended that his Performance art turn on the Senate floor yesterday was about forcing the Obama administration to answer a question’

and ‘Spewing Infantile Fantasies’

and ‘I haven’t heard anything Sleazier than that on the Senate floor’

and ‘Rand Paul is Stark Raving Mad‘

and ‘Perfect reason NOT to stand with Rand’

and ‘Do you think there’s more than 14 minutes of actual contact in what that Psychopath said on the Senate floor’

and ‘if you want to #StandWithRand – do you want to stand with all of the Vile Spewing Madness that came out of that Crazy Person’s mouth’

and ‘your standing with a Crazy person’

and ‘there has never been a filibuster that wasn’t a Stunt and wasn’t Pandering‘

…meanwhile O’Donnell’s guests were trying to have a relevant discussion about civil liberties and the fact that Rand Paul actual brought this important issue of using drones to kill American people to the country’s dinner table for the first time…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ptEmrndM9DQ

http://www.libertypulse.com/article/...uls-stunt-was/

See also http://www.bigbigforums.com/news-inf...mocracy-d.html

Reading O'Donnell's "rants", who is the crazy one here spewing vile madness?

No Bible for Brennan Swearing In
1:28 PM, Mar 8, 2013



Jihadi John Brennan was sworn in today at the White House. He was confirmed as the new CIA director yesterday.

"Brennan was sworn in with his hand on an original draft of the Constitution, dating from 1787, which has George Washington's personal handwriting and annotations on it," according to the White House. He does not appear to have placed his hand on a Bible, a Torah, a Koran, or other sacred religious text as he said the oath.

Vice President Joe Biden performed the swearing in ceremony in the White House's Roosevelt Room. Brennan was joined by members of his family.

UPDATE: Empywheel.net notices that this Constitution lacks a Bill of Rights: "That means, when Brennan vowed to protect and defend the Constitution, he was swearing on one that did not include the First, Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth Amendments — or any of the other Amendments now included in our Constitution. The Bill of Rights did not become part of our Constitution until 1791, 4 years after the Constitution that Brennan took his oath on."

Is he the first to do this?

One Man with Courage Makes a Majority: How Rand Paul Swayed Opinion on Drone Strikes
Mon, 03/25/2013 - 3:02pm | posted by Jason Pye

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who led a 13-hour filibuster of John Brennan’s nomination to the CIA, has certainly changed public opinion on drone strikes. According to a new Gallup poll, 79% now oppose drone strikes on American citizens on American soil and 52% oppose strikes against American citizens on foreign soil: http://www.gallup.com/poll/161474/su...ts-abroad.aspx



Over at Slate, Dave Weigel notes that this also represents a 50-point swing against the idea of drone strikes against American citizens who are merely accused of terrorism on foreign soil. http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/20..._citizens.html

Within hours of Sen. Paul’s filibuster, Attorney General Eric Holder clarified the Obama Administration’s position on drone strikes, stating that a president could not kill an American citizen on American soil. http://www.unitedliberty.org/article...-american-soil

http://www.unitedliberty.org/article...-drone-strikes

The ultimate police state? How do you feel about that? LIKE and SHARE if you are outraged!

The FAA predicts 10,000 DRONES will be in the skies by 2020. Over the course of 10 years, it will cost $94 BILLION dollars.

FAA Predicts 10,000 Drones Could Be In the Skies By 2020
March 25, 2013

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicts 10,000 commercial drones could be in the skies by 2020 after guidelines are approved. For now, Congress has asked the FAA to write regulations on civil operation of small unmanned aircraft systems in the national airspace and submit them by 2015.

"Once enabled, commercial UAS markets will develop. There are many potential ways for a company to generate revenue from UAS applications, whether from new markets or more efficient applications in established markets. Based upon the expected regulatory environment, FAA predicts roughly 10,000 active commercial UASs in five years," states the FAA Aerospace Forecast for Fiscal Years 2012-2032.

Phil Finnegan, director of corporate analysis at the Teal Group, which monitors the aerospace industry says when rules are written, law enforcement will be first in line, followed by civilian applications. According to an FAA document, which references the Teal Group, it is estimated $94 billion will be spent over the course of 10 years for Unmanned Aircraft Systems.

As of now, the FAA has issued 1,428 licenses to police, universities, and federal agencies since 2007- a number far higher than previously known. Of these, 327 are still listed as active.

http://cnsnews.com/blog/joe-schoffst...-be-skies-2020

The Children Killed by America’s Drones.
“Crimes Against Humanity” committed by Barack H. Obama.
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky ~ Global Research, January 26, 2013

This is a list of names of innocent children killed by America’s drones

But behind each name there is the face of a child with a family history in a village in a far away country, with a mom and a dad, with brothers and sisters and friends.

Among the list, are infants of 1, 2, 3 and 4 years old.

In some cases brothers and sisters of an entire family are killed.

Four sisters of the Ali Mohammed Nasser family in Yemen were killed. Afrah was 9 years old when she and her three younger sisters Zayda (7 years old) , Hoda (5 years old) and Sheika (4 years old) were struck by an American drone.

Ibrahim, a 13 year old boy of the Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye family in Yemen was struck by a US drone, together with his younger brother Asmaa (9 years old) and two younger sisters, Salma (4 years old) and Fatima (3 years old)

These children are innocent. They are not different from our own children.


Their lives were taken away at a very young age as part of a military agenda, which claims to be combating “international terrorism”

These drone attacks are extremely precise. We are not dealing with “collateral damage”.

Drone operators have the ability of viewing from a computer screen their targets well in advance of a strike.

A family home is referred to as a “structure” or a “building” rather than a house. When they target a home with family members, they kill children. And they know that in advance of the drone strike:


“Bryant saw a flash on the screen: the explosion. Parts of the building collapsed. The child had disappeared. Bryant had a sick feeling in his stomach.

“Did we just kill a kid?” he asked the man sitting next to him.

“Yeah, I guess that was a kid,” the pilot replied.

“Was that a kid?” they wrote into a chat window on the monitor.” ( The Woes of an American Drone Operator, Spiegel.de, December 14, 2012)

These children were killed on the orders of the US President and Commander in Chief Barack H. Obama.

The commander in chief sets the military agenda and authorizes these killings to proceed.

The killings were quite deliberate. They are categorized as “crimes against humanity” under international law.


Those who ordered these drone killings, including the president of the United States, are war criminals under international law and must be indicted and prosecuted


It should be noted that the drone attacks on civilians have increased dramatically during the Obama presidency (see below).



The List of Names was compiled by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism



CIA Drone Strikes in Pakistan 2004–2013

Total US strikes: 362
Obama strikes: 310
Total reported killed: 2,629-3,461
Civilians reported killed: 475-891
Children reported killed: 176
Total reported injured: 1,267-1,431



US Covert Action in Yemen 2002–2013

Total confirmed US operations (all): 54-64
Total confirmed US drone strikes: 42-52
Possible extra US operations: 135-157
Possible extra US drone strikes: 77-93
Total reported killed (all): 374-1,112
Total civilians killed (all): 72-177
Children killed (all): 27-37



US Covert Action in Somalia 2007–2013

Total US strikes: 10-23
Total US drone strikes: 3-9
Total reported killed: 58-170
Civilians reported killed: 11-57
Children reported killed: 1-3

Drone Infographics


Interactive map

by Drones Team | 1 Comment



This map details the locations of CIA drone strikes in the remote Pakistani tribal areas.

Partial List of Children Killed

PAKISTAN

Name | Age | Gender

Noor Aziz | 8 | male
Abdul Wasit | 17 | male
Noor Syed | 8 | male
Wajid Noor | 9 | male
Syed Wali Shah | 7 | male
Ayeesha | 3 | female
Qari Alamzeb | 14| male
Shoaib | 8 | male
Hayatullah KhaMohammad | 16 | male
Tariq Aziz | 16 | male
Sanaullah Jan | 17 | male
Maezol Khan | 8 | female
Nasir Khan | male
Naeem Khan | male
Naeemullah | male
Mohammad Tahir | 16 | male
Azizul Wahab | 15 | male
Fazal Wahab | 16 | male
Ziauddin | 16 | male
Mohammad Yunus | 16 | male
Fazal Hakim | 19 | male
Ilyas | 13 | male
Sohail | 7 | male
Asadullah | 9 | male
khalilullah | 9 | male
Noor Mohammad | 8 | male
Khalid | 12 | male
Saifullah | 9 | male
Mashooq Jan | 15 | male
Nawab | 17 | male
Sultanat Khan | 16 | male
Ziaur Rahman | 13 | male
Noor Mohammad | 15 | male
Mohammad Yaas Khan | 16 | male
Qari Alamzeb | 14 | male
Ziaur Rahman | 17 | male
Abdullah | 18 | male
Ikramullah Zada | 17 | male
Inayatur Rehman | 16 | male
Shahbuddin | 15 | male
Yahya Khan | 16 |male
Rahatullah |17 | male
Mohammad Salim | 11 | male
Shahjehan | 15 | male
Gul Sher Khan | 15 | male
Bakht Muneer | 14 | male
Numair | 14 | male
Mashooq Khan | 16 | male
Ihsanullah | 16 | male
Luqman | 12 | male
Jannatullah | 13 | male
Ismail | 12 | male
Taseel Khan | 18 | male
Zaheeruddin | 16 | male
Qari Ishaq | 19 | male
Jamshed Khan | 14 | male
Alam Nabi | 11 | male
Qari Abdul Karim | 19 | male
Rahmatullah | 14 | male
Abdus Samad | 17 | male
Siraj | 16 | male
Saeedullah | 17 | male
Abdul Waris | 16 | male
Darvesh | 13 | male
Ameer Said | 15 | male
Shaukat | 14 | male
Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male
Salman | 12 | male
Fazal Wahab | 18 | male
Baacha Rahman | 13 | male
Wali-ur-Rahman | 17 | male
Iftikhar | 17 | male
Inayatullah | 15 | male
Mashooq Khan | 16 | male
Ihsanullah | 16 | male
Luqman | 12 | male
Jannatullah | 13 | male
Ismail | 12 | male
Abdul Waris | 16 | male
Darvesh | 13 | male
Ameer Said | 15 | male
Shaukat | 14 | male
Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male
Adnan | 16 | male
Najibullah | 13 | male
Naeemullah | 17 | male
Hizbullah | 10 | male
Kitab Gul | 12 | male
Wilayat Khan | 11 | male
Zabihullah | 16 | male
Shehzad Gul | 11 | male
Shabir | 15 | male
Qari Sharifullah | 17 | male
Shafiullah | 16 | male
Nimatullah | 14 | male
Shakirullah | 16 | male
Talha | 8 | male

YEMEN

Afrah Ali Mohammed Nasser | 9 | female
Zayda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 7 | female
Hoda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 5 | female
Sheikha Ali Mohammed Nasser | 4 | female
Ibrahim Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 13 | male
Asmaa Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 9 | male
Salma Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | female
Fatima Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 3 | female
Khadije Ali Mokbel Louqye | 1 | female
Hanaa Ali Mokbel Louqye | 6 | female
Mohammed Ali Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | male
Jawass Mokbel Salem Louqye | 15 | female
Maryam Hussein Abdullah Awad | 2 | female
Shafiq Hussein Abdullah Awad | 1 | female
Sheikha Nasser Mahdi Ahmad Bouh | 3 | female
Maha Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 12 | male
Soumaya Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 9 | female
Shafika Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 4 | female
Shafiq Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 2 | male
Mabrook Mouqbal Al Qadari | 13 | male
Daolah Nasser 10 years | 10 | female
AbedalGhani Mohammed Mabkhout | 12 | male
Abdel- Rahman Anwar al Awlaki | 16 | male
Abdel-Rahman al-Awlaki | 17 | male
Nasser Salim | 19

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-chi...-obama/5320570

As you can see, since Obama took office indiscriminate drone kills have become the norm. What happens when drones in the US start firing on citizens of this country? Check this out and let us know what you think. http://drones.pitchinteractive.com/