Task Force on US Drone Policy - New Report
 

Here is an interesting report on US drone policy. It focuses on issues related to using them in a lethal capacity overseas. It is a good primer on facets such as blowback, forum shopping, etc.

One thing that jumped out at me while reading the Executive Summary is that it seems preemptive strikes have melded into an accepted definition of Just War theory. That issue is, however, outside of the report's scope.

http://s3.documentcloud.org/document...web-062414.pdf

Here is NY Times news of the report.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/wo...=top-news&_r=0

Preemptive strikes fit into classic just war theory only if one has virtual certainty that the attack to be preempted is going to happen, and that absorbing the attack before responding would put one at a very significant disadvantage. Then one must consider the other requirements for justification. These conditions will 'rarely' be met in the real world.

This whole thing is an outgrowth of the Anwar Al-Awlaki drone strike in Yemen, something I'm cool with.

Lethal force against Al-Awlaki was legal the same way that lethal force against a guy shooting a rifle at us is legal. He was a leader, so his hostile actions against us were not hands-on violent, but they were deadly hostile actions, none the less.

I for one want those Son's of Witches looking over there shoulders all the time. Just wish we had cyborgs!



Barney