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karynnj

(59,474 posts)
7. Rand Paul is despicable
Tue Jun 19, 2012, 11:54 AM
Jun 2012

I think that all his fellow Senators are not interested in the money spent on drones. This is playing into the cynicism that is rampant on both sides of the aisle. I would bet that even the most conservative Republican who supports increasing drone capacity is doing so based on the view that this technology achieves some military goals with less loss of American lives. For many, even a CERTAIN increase in non-American life would not change their support of something that saves American lives. (I am not arguing the morality here, but the fact that that is far different than what Paul is accusing them of.)

The REAL needed discussion on drones has to do with how they are used and whether the uses are for actions that Congress has approved and which are consistent with international law. I think that the point to start the questions on whether drones are a good part of the country's arsenal is to start this discussion accepting (for just this discussion) the country's military objectives. The question then is are they better or at least as good as the possible alternatives.

The questions then are things like do they really result in fewer attacks on the US or our allies and how precise the drone attacks are and a comparison of the amount of "collateral damage" with other alternatives. Lastly, no matter how precise the drones are, there is a question of how good the intelligence that triggers the use may be.

Rereading this - I need to add that I think there should be Congressional hearings that deal with both the specifics of places where we are at war or may go to war and hearings that are more general that attempt to relook at how America agrees to go to war. My point with drones - as it would be with any technology - is that the decisions on whether it is something that is ok to use should not be conflated with the question of whether we should be at war (or engaged militarily) at all.

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