Vast majority of Americans are against drone strikes in the U.S. against Americans living here who are suspected terrorists: Gallup Poll
Just weeks after the 13-hour filibuster on the Senate floor by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, in which he asks the Obama administration, “Does the President have the power to authorize lethal force, such as a drone strike, against a US citizen on US soil, and without a trial?”, Gallup did a poll, asking Americans about the use of drones in a variety of scenarios, which was published March 25.
Armed Predator drone firing Hellfire missile 2010 photo Brigadier Lance Mans, Deputy Director, NATO Special Operations Coordination Centre
What they learned from a survey of two groups of over 500 respondents, a mere 13 percent of those polled believe think the U.S. government should use drones to launch airstrikes in the U.S. against U.S. citizens living here who are suspected terrorists. Eight out 10 people in the survey said no.
However, a majority of Americans (65%) also believe the U.S. government should use drones to launch airstrikes in other countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan against suspected terrorists.
Of the four circumstances asked in the survey: Should the U.S. government use drones to launch airstrikes in other countries against suspected terrorists, use drones to launch airstrikes in other countries against U.S. citizens living abroad who are suspected terrorists, launch airstrikes in the U.S. against suspected terrorists living here and launch airstrikes in the U.S. against U.S. citizens living here who are suspected terrorists, those that identified themselves as Republicans were more likely to support drone use.
About one half of those surveyed say they are following the news of the drone use controversy closely, and this group was also more likely to support drone use.
Domestic drone usage is ill-conceived, elitist, and end-runs our inherent Constitutional protections.
Here are two (2), very well-produced, videos that anchor my points:
Emmy Award-winning newscaster Shad Olson’s ‘The Great Drone Debate’, featuring US Senator John Thune (7:41):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssoOASanKao
Here’s a mind-blowing, well-done animated short that really captures our collective angst that if the road to perdition is paved with good intentions, then domestic drones are a superhighway to an Orwellian panoptic gulag (3:22):
http://vimeo.com/59689349
For national security purposes, Americans are already subject to warrantless wiretaps of calls and emails, the warrantless GPS “tagging” of their vehicles, the domestic use of Predators or other spy-in-the-sky drones, and the Department of Homeland Security’s monitoring of all our behavior through “data fusion centers.”
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/
http://www.conservative-daily.com/2013/03/22/obamas-executive-order-gives-feds-green-light-to-spy-on-you/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=obamas-executive-order-gives-feds-green-light-to-spy-on-you
America’s promise has always been the power of the many to rule, instead of the one. Ungoverned drone usage, particularly domestically, gives power to the one.