If you live in California, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Maine, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Indiana, or Idaho, you have a Senator on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Please call one of your Senator’s local offices on Monday—or anytime during the Senate recess this week when you can—and urge them to support…
Different Senate committees are supposed to do oversight of different federal agencies. The Senate Judiciary Committee is supposed to oversee the Department of Justice. The Senate Armed Services committee is supposed to do oversight of the Pentagon. And the Senate Intelligence Committee is supposed to do oversight of the Central Intelligence Agency. Since the CIA…
California Senator Dianne Feinstein said something recently that’s making our heads spin. Following John Brennan’s confirmation hearing last Thursday in which the Senate Intelligence Committee questioned him on US drone policy, Politico reported Sen. Feinstein as saying that she was unaware of reports that in some instances U.S. officials assumed any male of fighting age…
At long last, the Administration has released a “white paper” explaining its legal rationale for conducting drone strikes on Americans. Why did this happen? Because of pressure. What might more pressure accomplish? John Brennan is appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Urge…
A key reason many in Congress haven’t spoken up against the drone strike policy is that many believe the public overwhelmingly supports the policy. A key reason many believe the public overwhelmingly supports the drone strike policy is that the Washington Post said so in February 2012. But the question the Washington Post asked in…
[Adapted from a talk given for Chicago Area Peace Action, January 17, 2012.] I’d like to begin by asking you all two questions about your current opinions on U.S. drone strike policy and what we can do about it. Be honest in your responses, because for Just Foreign Policy, understanding how people view these questions…
This is slightly adapted from a presentation given at a Congressional briefing on drone strike policy on November 16, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich. I want to talk about what Congress could do about drone strikes in the next 1-2 years. To begin with, some political context, as I see it. First, I don’t think…
The following letter was delivered to the US embassy in Pakistan on October 3, 2012. Read the press release here. You can speak out against US drone strikes by signing our petition. To: U.S. and Pakistani officials who have influence over the U.S. policy of conducting drone strikes in Pakistan From: Citizens of the United…
There’s a conventional wisdom in Washington that there’s nothing we can do politically to stop the U.S. government from killing innocent civilians with drone strikes. But it ain’t necessarily so. Speaking only for myself, I’m willing to stipulate that killing "high value terrorists" who are known to be actively preparing to kill Americans is wildly…
The PDF of this letter is here. This NGO letter tracks a Congressional letter to the Administration pressing for greater transparency in the drone strike policy. That letter is here: Kucinich/Conyers: Ensure Transparency and Accountability In The U.S. Combat Drone Program https://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1219 —- June 5, 2012 The Honorable Barack Obama President of the United States…