Feb 21 - Drones have k!lled 4,700, U.S. senator says

Just how many people have America’s drones k!lled? Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has put the [rip] toll at 4,700—the first time an American official has publicly put a precise figure on the impact of strikes by unmanned aerial vehicles. The South Carolina lawmaker's office said he was citing an estimate already discussed on cable television.

Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, used the figure during a question and answer session on Tuesday with the Rotary Club of Easley in his home state of South Carolina. His remarks were first reported by the Easley Patch.

“We've k!lled 4,700,” the lawmaker said. “Sometimes you hit innocent people, and I hate that, but we're at war, and we've taken out some very senior members of al-Qaida.”

Drone strikes, President Barack Obama’s signature tactic for k!lling suspected al-Qaida and other extremist fighters, have been “very effective,” said Graham. “It's a weapon that needs to be used.”

Amid a controversy sparked by Obama’s targeted[..]assination of American citizens overseas suspected of consorting with terrorists, Graham came down sharply against any judicial oversight of the drone war, calling the idea “crazy.”

“I can't imagine, in World War [II] for Roosevelt to have gone to a bunch of judges and said, 'I need your permission before we can attack the enemy,'” Graham said.

Drone war expert Micah Zenko of the Council on Foreign Relations noted on his blog that Graham’s figure lined up with the high-end estimate by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

“Either Graham is a big fan of TBIJ’s work, or perhaps he inadvertently revealed the U.S. government’s body count for nonbattlefield targeted k!llings,” Zenko said.

Asked about the disclosure, Graham's office forwarded a clip from MSNBC in which the anchor cites the figure of 4,700 k!lled. Asked whether the Obama Administration harbored any concerns about Graham's comments, National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor sent along a blog post including the same clip.

Graham's remarks, as reported, did not specify whether he was discussing CIA drone strikes or military drone strikes.

Obama's expanded drone war has broad popular support in the U.S., according to a poll released earlier this month by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. That survey found 56 percent support such strikes and 26 percent oppose them. At the same time, 53 percent worry about potential civilian casualties. But overseas it faces majority opposition, Pew found last year.

source

“I can't imagine, in World War [II] for Roosevelt to have gone to a bunch of judges and said, 'I need your permission before we can attack the enemy,'” Graham said.

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that !! is crazy [pic]

[pic] That ether

that drone cool but i hate that drone.... song speaks volume

The gov. glorify k!lling, then wonder why kids k!lling each other in the states. [pic]

both bush and chaney made billions off the fraud in iraq
now !! cheney is gonna make more money by investing is some oil scheme somewhere in russia

That shiit wavy as fuk... [pic]

I always get along with middle eastern people, them niccas are sand niccas, like me but just sandy.

More of that change [pic]

This needs to be addressed. If we all take a step back and thing about the big picture we will begin to realize where the hate is coming from by these foreign countries. The biggest lie is that these countries hate us because we're a democracy. They hate us because we[..] them of their resources and k!ll civilian families and kids and innocent people. Think if another country did this to us. Imagine seeing on the news that Pakistan k!lled 4700 People using drones. This !! must stop. The Tsa needs to be abolished as well.