Sheldon Richman on Obama's Drone Warfare

"Covert" drone warfare requires a level of confidence in politicians that they will never deserve, writes Sheldon Richman. Thomas Jefferson and others of his generation understood that government was simply not something to be trusted. Rather, it was a permanent object of suspicion, because it was uniquely positioned to steal our freedoms. Therefore we can surmise that Jefferson would have been appalled by a government whose chief executive has the unchecked unilateral power to kill people'"including American citizens'"away from the traditional battlefield and without due process, on the basis of suspicions and allegations that they are "involved in planning terrorist attacks against the United States."
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?