General Discussion

The Northerner

(5,040 posts) Wed Jun 13, 2012, 05:41 PM Jun 2012

Letter demands Obama explain legal justification for drone strikes

According to a press release, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and 25 other members of Congress have said that drone strikes “could significantly increase the risk of killing innocent civilians or those who have no relationship to a potential attack on the US, further enflaming anti-US sentiment abroad.”

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The letter also calls for ”the nature of the follow-up that is conducted when civilians are killed or injured; and the mechanisms that ensure civilian casualty numbers are collected, tracked and analysed.”

“The implications of the use of drones for our national security are profound. They are faceless ambassadors that cause civilian deaths, and are frequently the only direct contact with Americans that the targeted communities have. They can generate powerful and enduring anti-American sentiment,” Congressman Kucinich warned.

The press release said that the letter has been signed by John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Michael M. Honda (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (D-GA), Lynn C. Woolsey (D-CA), Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Ron Paul (R-TX), James P. McGovern (D-MA), John Lewis (D-GA), George Miller (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Keith Ellison (D-MN) Walter B. Jones (R-NC), and Donna Edwards (D-MD).

Earlier in the day, results of the latest Pew poll showed that the controversial programme was widely opposed internationally, with key US allies including Britian, France, Germany, Italy and Japan opposed to the strikes.