Obama Justifies Use of Drone Strikes

Before an audience at the National Defence University on Thursday, US President Barack Obama defended the controversial use of drones by the country as an important weapon in the war against terrorism.

In a speech where he was expected to address the audience on a secretive program run by the government, he explained that he is haunted by those civilians who were caught in the attacks and tried to assure listeners that there must be “near certainty” that no more civilians will be killed in such strikes in a near future.

“We are at war with an organization that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first,” he said. “So, this is just a war – a war waged proportionally, in last resort , and in self-defense.”

He added, “So America is at crossroads. We must define the nature and the scope of the struggle, or else it will define us.”

The speech also addressed the issue of the military prison at Guantanamo Bay which the Obama Administration had promised Americans it would shut down in its 2008 campaign promise

“When I ran for president the first time, John McCain supported closing Gitmo. No person has ever escaped from one of our super-max or military prisons in the United States,” Obama said.

“Our courts have convicted hundreds of people for terrorism-related offences, including some who are more dangerous than most Gitmo detainees….there is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened,” the president added.

While been interrupted by a woman protesting the use of drones and the current situation with the hunger strike at the prison, he pressed further, saying that he would lift a moratorium on prisoner transfers to Yemen and ensure the complete shutdown of the prison, urging Congress not to interrupt his efforts to ensure that the prisoners are transferred to American secured maximum prisons.

Although, a good number of lawmakers are of the opinion that the US authorities support for drone strikes be limited, the President has promised to share with the general public concerning matters about the drone strikes.

His speech came just a day after a letter was released by the attorney-general on behalf of the Obama Administration, revealing for the first time that four American citizens had been killed in covert drone strikes oversea.

It coincides with the signing of new “presidential policy guidance” on when drone strikes can be used, according to the White House.