BEIRNE: When to pull the trigger — and when not to – Washington Times

Logan Beirne, who’s new book we recently reviewed here at WWTFT, has an excellent piece in the Washington Times.  In this piece, as in his book, Beirne explains the relevance of founding principles and the precedents set by George Washington.

Are drones coming home to roost? Last week, President Obama announced his administration’s counterterrorism policy. The question is, will this policy defend our liberties — or destroy them?

If we adhere to our founding principles, we would use drones to fiercely defend our nation from external threats while still protecting our own citizens from their use at home. We would spend less time restricting drone use against foreign enemies, as the president did last week, and more time defining safeguards owed Americans. Instead of clearly defining the distinction between external threats versus citizens, the president concluded the “threshold that we have set for taking lethal action applies to all potential terrorist targets, regardless of whether or not they are American citizens.”

….

While it is most certainly within the president’s power to muscularly defend the nation from all foreign threats, he must make sure we are protecting America’s founding constitutional principles at the same time. Although targeting foreign terrorists is something our Founders would applaud, killing U.S. citizens suspected of crimes is setting us on a slippery slope. What are the limits on our growing government’s power over Americans?

 

via BEIRNE: When to pull the trigger — and when not to – Washington Times.