Reply #322: Maybe I'm getting more pragmatic in my old age, but

[Flatulo]

violation of due process in these drone strikes doesn't bother me, as long as there is some involvement by the courts. The burden should be on the executive (as CinC) to prove that there is a real, imminent threat posed by the target.

The problem is that due process hasn't caught up with the type of low-intensity state-less conflicts we're likely to face in the future. As has been mentioned, I think the world would have been a much better place had we been able to take out bin Laden and the Afghan training camps prior to 9/11. In hindsight, the invasion of Afghanistan was ill-conceived and poorly executed. Invading a whole country to get a few bad guys has been largely ineffective. I for one rejoiced when Obama eliminated OBL with pinpoint accuracy and minimum loss of life, and think this is the right way to deal with the threat posed by terrorists networks.

I can't imagine anything worse than trying to explain to the families of innocents injured or killed by fanatics that we were too busy preparing a legal case to actually do anything to stop the attack.