WASHINGTON — Facing the possibility that President Obama might not win a second term, his administration accelerated work in the weeks before the election to develop explicit rules for the targeted killing of terrorists by unmanned drones, so that a new president would inherit clear standards and procedures, according to two administration officials.
The matter may have lost some urgency after Nov. 6. But with more than 300 drone strikes and some 2,500 people killed by the CIA and the military since Obama first took office, the administration is still pushing to make the rules formal and resolve internal uncertainty and disagreement about when lethal action is justified.
Comments
The underlying premise of this "news story" is astonishing. "The matter [of limiting drone attacks] may have lost some urgency after Nov. 6." Are we to believe that GOP presidents are amoral or immoral murderers who cannot be trusted with drones whereas Barack Obama is a morally pure leader who can be trusted to use drone technology with proper restraint? The moral arrogance of Barack Obama (and Scott Shane of the NYT) is beyond the pale.
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Never is political affiliation mentioned? "Facing the possibility that President Obama might not win a second term, his administration accelerated work in the weeks before the election to develop explicit rules for the targeted killing of terrorists by unmanned drones, so that a new president would inherit clear standards and procedures...." One presumes that the alternative to a second term for Obama was a first term for Romney.