I am no fan of Ron Paul or Rand Paul, both of whom have made their hostility to Israel and dangerous misapprehension of the jihad threat abundantly clear. However, this bill is obviously necessary. Hamas-linked CAIR and Leftist groups made much of the killing of al-Awlaki in Yemen, but al-Awlaki was clearly an enemy combatant, a jihadi at war with the United States. What is disquieting about the Obama Administration’s claim that American citizens can lawfully be killed with drones on American soil is that the Obama Administration has already made it abundantly clear that they consider “right-wing extremists” — a category in which they lump law-abiding and freedom-loving conservatives together with neo-Nazis and racists, in the same manner as do Islamic supremacists and Lefists — to be more of a threat than jihadis. I can see this administration, which saw to it that the maker of a Muhammad video was jailed, using drones against foes of jihad and Islamic supremacism sooner than they would against jihadis and Islamic supremacists who are genuinely at war with the United States.
“Cruz, Paul Introduce Bill to Prohibit Drone Killings of U.S. Citizens,” from Ted Cruz’s site, March 7 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):
WASHINGTON, DC””U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY) today introduced legislation to prohibit drone killings of U.S. citizens on U.S. soil if they do not represent an imminent threat.
“Our Constitution restrains government power,” Cruz said. “The federal government may not use drones to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil if they do not represent an imminent threat. The Commander in Chief does, of course, have the power to protect Americans from imminent attack, and nothing in this legislation interferes with that power.”
Key bill text:
The Federal Government may not use a drone to kill a citizen of the United States who is located in the United States. The prohibition under this subsection shall not apply to an individual who poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to another individual. Nothing in this section shall be construed to suggest that the Constitution would otherwise allow the killing of a citizen of the United States in the United States without due process of law.