Department of Empty Rhetoric

glatt · 05-24-2013, 01:37 PM

Well, I didn't listen to the speech and don't have time to read it now, but based on news reports on it, if he wants to scale back the drone attacks and make them a little more transparent, that's at least a step in the right direction. And talking about closing Gitmo is better than doing nothing at all. It's not an inspirational speech, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's terrible.

He says he wants to close Gitmo, but can't bring the prisoners here because of opposition. I'm not sure how that works. Seems to me he could just bring them to military prisons here. Commander in Chief and all that.

Griff · 05-24-2013, 02:04 PM

He says he wants to scale it back but it would appear they don't adhere to the present standard.

Copies of the top-secret U.S. intelligence reports reviewed by McClatchy, however, show that drone strikes in Pakistan over a four-year period didn’t adhere to those standards.

The intelligence reports list killings of alleged Afghan insurgents whose organization wasn’t on the U.S. list of terrorist groups at the time of the 9/11 strikes; of suspected members of a Pakistani extremist group that didn’t exist at the time of 9/11; and of unidentified individuals described as “other militants” and “foreign fighters.”

In a response to questions from McClatchy, the White House defended its targeting policies, pointing to previous public statements by senior administration officials that the missile strikes are aimed at al Qaida and associated forces.

Micah Zenko, an expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, a bipartisan foreign policy think tank, who closely follows the target killing program, said McClatchy’s findings indicate that the administration is “misleading the public about the scope of who can legitimately be targeted.”

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/04/0...#storylink=cpy

Happy Monkey · 05-24-2013, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt

He says he wants to close Gitmo, but can't bring the prisoners here because of opposition. I'm not sure how that works. Seems to me he could just bring them to military prisons here. Commander in Chief and all that.

Congress banned him from using any money to do that, last time he tried.

05-24-2013, 02:04 PM	#2
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	He says he wants to scale it back but it would appear they don't adhere to the present standard. Copies of the top-secret U.S. intelligence reports reviewed by McClatchy, however, show that drone strikes in Pakistan over a four-year period didn’t adhere to those standards. The intelligence reports list killings of alleged Afghan insurgents whose organization wasn’t on the U.S. list of terrorist groups at the time of the 9/11 strikes; of suspected members of a Pakistani extremist group that didn’t exist at the time of 9/11; and of unidentified individuals described as “other militants” and “foreign fighters.” In a response to questions from McClatchy, the White House defended its targeting policies, pointing to previous public statements by senior administration officials that the missile strikes are aimed at al Qaida and associated forces. Micah Zenko, an expert with the Council on Foreign Relations, a bipartisan foreign policy think tank, who closely follows the target killing program, said McClatchy’s findings indicate that the administration is “misleading the public about the scope of who can legitimately be targeted.” Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/04/0...#storylink=cpy __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

05-24-2013, 01:37 PM	#1
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Well, I didn't listen to the speech and don't have time to read it now, but based on news reports on it, if he wants to scale back the drone attacks and make them a little more transparent, that's at least a step in the right direction. And talking about closing Gitmo is better than doing nothing at all. It's not an inspirational speech, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's terrible. He says he wants to close Gitmo, but can't bring the prisoners here because of opposition. I'm not sure how that works. Seems to me he could just bring them to military prisons here. Commander in Chief and all that.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)