Are U.S. Drone Strikes Ethical?

Top US Official: Drone Strikes 'Legal, Ethical and Wise' in Terror Fight -- Voice of America

A senior counter-terrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama says targeted drone strikes abroad are a legal, ethical and wise option in order to ensure national security.

Speaking at an event in Washington Monday, White House official John Brennan credited what he called the "surgical" and "laser-like precision" of drone strikes in helping to remove the "cancerous tumor" of terrorism without harming the "civilian tissue" around it.

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More News On The Case That US Drone Strikes Are 'Legal, Ethical and Wise' In Terror Fight

White House: U.S. drone killings legal to combat threats -- Reuters
U.S. Drone Strikes Are Ethical, Obama Adviser Says -- Bloomberg
Obama adviser defends use of drones in Pakistan -- CBS
Obama's counter-terrorism advisor defends drone strikes -- New York Daily News
US defends 'legal and ethical' drone strikes in Pak -- Rediff
Drone strikes are legal and ethical: U.S. -- The Hindu
Counter-terrorism official says drones help prevent deeper conflicts -- L.A. Times
White House official confirms US carries out drone strikes -- FOX News
Obama’s Counter Terrorism Advisor Defends Drone Strikes -- Daily Political
U.S. official acknowledges drone strikes, says civilian deaths 'exceedingly rare' -- MSNBC
White House Defends Drone Program -- NPR (Audio)

Pakistan Still Silent On How Bin Laden Was Able To Live In Their Country For So Long

One Year On From OBL Raid, No Answers From Pakistan -- New York Daily News

A year after American commandos killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistan has still not answered questions about how the terrorist stayed in the country and whether security forces protected him. The US has not much faith in the committee that was set-up to investigate how Bin Laden evaded capture.

One year since U.S. commandos flew into this Pakistani army town and killed Osama bin Laden, Islamabad has failed to answer tough questions over whether its security forces were protecting the world's most wanted terrorist.

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Update #1: OBL a Year On: No Answers from Pakistan -- Time/AP
Update #2: Pakistanis remain angry, suspicious over bin Laden raid -- CBS
Update #3: A year after bin Laden raid, Pakistan still harboring U.S.’s biggest enemies -- the State/McClatchy News

My Comment: Here is an easy prediction .... Pakistan will never properly investigate and report on who were the people who set up the infrastructure for Bin Laden to live in Pakistan.

Osama Bin Laden Enjoyed The 'Good Life' In His Final Years

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is seen in this undated video image, released by the U.S. on Saturday, May 7, 2011.

Bin Laden Lived Life Of 'Domestic Bliss' In Final Years -- CTV

During the six years that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden lived secretly in a walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, he maintained a quiet life of relative domestic bliss, while at the same time attempting to micromanage a once-powerful militant empire.

That's according to Peter Bergen, author of "Manhunt: The Decade-Long Hunt for Osama bin Laden," the new book released Tuesday on the one-year anniversary of bin Laden's death at the hands of a U.S. Navy SEAL team in Pakistan.

Bergen, a journalist and security analyst met bin Laden in a mud hut in 1997 in Afghanistan and then spent 15 years reporting on his life. He was also the only journalist and independent observer to have been allowed access to the bin Laden compound before it was demolished in early 2012

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My Comment: When Bin Laden heard the commotion of the soldiers rushing into his home must have been the moment that he realized that everything was coming to an end for him .... that for him the life that he had lived was finally coming to an end.

Bin Laden Targeted President Obama And Others For Assassination

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Bin Laden Targeted Obama, Petraeus, Ex-Aide Says -- USA Today

Documents found in Osama bin Laden's compound detail a number of terrorist plots, including planned assassinations of President Obama and U.S. military commander David Petraeus.

NBC News reported that the Navy Seals who carried out last year's mission against bin Laden recovered "five computers, 10 hard drives and more than 100 storage devices -- DVDs, discs and thumb drives -- that included between 10,000 and 15,000 documents and between 15,000 to 25,000 videos, including a large number of duplicate files."

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My Comment: The assassination plots are nothing new .... but this is the first time that I have read on how many DVDs, discs and thumb drives were seized from his home.

US Navy SEALS Criticize The Obama Campaign For Being Used In Their Campaign Advertising

SEALs Slam Obama For Using Them As 'Ammunition' In Bid To Take Credit For bin Laden Killing During Election Campaign -- Daily Mail

Serving and former US Navy SEALs have slammed President Barack Obama for taking the credit for killing Osama bin Laden and accused him of using Special Forces operators as ‘ammunition’ for his re-election campaign.

The SEALs spoke out to MailOnline after the Obama campaign released an ad entitled ‘One Chance’.

In it President Bill Clinton is featured saying that Mr Obama took ‘the harder and the more honourable path’ in ordering that bin Laden be killed. The words ‘Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?’ are then displayed.

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My Comments: It appears that President Obama's election staff have overplayed their hand on this issue. If more stories like this one get published in the U.S., expect this ad to be pulled off the airways fast.

GOP Hopeful Romney Hits Back At The Politicization Of The Bin Laden Killing

Photo: Mitt Romney (CBS)

Romney: Disappointed In Obama's Jabs On bin Laden -- CBS

(CBS News) -- Mitt Romney hit back at President Obama Tuesday for his campaign's suggestion the presumptive nominee may not have ordered elite forces to go after Osama bin Laden, saying he was "disappointed" the issue had become political.

"I think them taking credit for the right decision is entirely appropriate. I think trying to attack me on that basis is disappointing and the wrong course," Romney said in an interview with "CBS This Morning."

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Update #1: Romney hits Obama over Osama bin Laden jab -- Politico
Update #2: GOP’s Romney says Obama shouldn’t politicize killing of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden -- Washington Post/AP

My Comment: Even media outlets favorable to President Obama have criticized the politicization of the Bin Laden killing. As to what is my take .... the White House has elevated the fallout of the Bin Laden killing to a strange political level .... but otherwise .... it is Washington politics as usual.

A Recap of the Arab Spring

Turkey Has Reason to Worry About Arab Spring -- Ersin Kalaycioglu, Real Clear World

When the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Sidi Bouzid led to an avalanche of protests in Tunisia in January 2011, nearly the entire Arab world began to rock with popular uprisings. Unforeseen protests by Arab youth seemed to catch diplomats, politicians, and students of Middle East politics unprepared. The initial reaction of the pundits was that a long awaited wave of democratization appeared to have arrived.

Then, the initial euphoria began to subside as the events in Yemen and Libya turned into tribal warfare and in Syria into sectarian civil war. Since we have no evidence in human history that tribalism leads to democracy, pundits began to wonder whether Arab revolt was ushering in democracy, tribalism, or yet another form of authoritarianism such as theocracy.

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My Comment: This post provides a short summary of the Arab spring.

Another Flashpoint Of Tension Between Iran And The Gulf Arabs

In Iran's Backyard, War Games May Spark New Conflict -- Haaretz

The tiny Gulf islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb may become a new theater of conflict between Tehran and the neighboring Sunni countries.

While nearly all the international attention regarding the Iranian nuclear program has been devoted to a potential Israeli strike, a possible conflict has been brewing much closer to Iran's borders, and could now be reaching boiling point.

Yesterday and today, the Peninsula Shield Force, the military coordinating army of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is essentially the NATO of the Sunni countries around the Persian Gulf, carrying out a war-game titled "Islands of Loyalty." While there are few official details of the exercise which is meant to "test the harmony and coordination among ground, air and naval forces and their readiness," the name is certainly no coincidence.

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My Comment: These islands hold a strategic position in the Persian Gulf. One can easily see from the above map on why the Iranians do not want to give it up.

Colour Photos Of U.S. Fighter Pilots Defending Britain In World War Two

Thunderbolts From The Blue! Incredible Colour Pictures Show The Young American Fighter Pilots Who Risked Their Lives To Defend Britain In World War Two -- Daily Mail

Some are smiling, while others are deep in reflection with their lives at risk.

These are part of the amazing collection of images chartering the close bond American troops who fought to defend British lives during the Second World War.

They feature the 56th Fighter Group 'Zemke's Wolfpack' which were based in north Suffolk at Halesworth (Holton) Airfield Station 365 in the early 1940s.

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My Comment: They are truly great heroes.

The First Year Anniversary On The Death Of Osama Bin Laden -- News Roundup

Osama Bin Laden, One Year Later: The Man and the Movement -- ABC News

President Barack Obama took to a White House podium a year ago Tuesday to tell the world that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed in a U.S. Navy SEAL raid. A year later, former White House counter-terrorism advisor and ABC News consultant Richard Clarke looks at what role bin Laden really played and how the world has changed since his death.

Appearing on ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday, White House counter-terrorism chief John Brennan reaffirmed the Obama Administration's intent to destroy al Qaeda. It was at once a muscular declaration of an aggressive policy and simultaneously an admission that al Qaeda is not dead yet. Asked by George Stephanopoulos if the death of Osama bin Laden seemed as important now one year after his death as it had at the time, Brennan quickly said that the al Qaeda leader's demise was very significant, but he then used the word "symbolic" to describe the importance.

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More News On The One Year Anniversary Of Bin Laden's Death

Obama marks anniversary of bin Laden's death -- CBC/AP
Bin Laden complained of Al-Qaeda 'disaster' -- AFP
Bemoaning ‘disaster after disaster,’ bin Laden considered changing al-Qaeda’s name -- National Post/AFP
Bin Laden: Seized documents show delusional leader and micromanager -- CNN
A year after bin Laden raid, Pakistan still harboring U.S.’s biggest enemies -- McClathcy News
Osama dead but Al Qaeda still dangerous -- New York Daily News
Top Al Qaeda leaders still burrowing in Pakistan: US -- New York Daily News
Al Qaeda ‘Shadow of Former Self’, US Counter-Terror Official Says -- ABC News
Al-Qaeda 'irrelevant' since bin Laden's death -- CBC
How the Killing of Bin Laden Has Crippled al Qaeda -- James Kitfield, The Atlantic
In Wake of Bin Laden's death, Al Qaeda Remains Lethal -- US News and World Report
Al Qaeda Is Far From Defeated -- Seth Jones
U.S. intelligence official says al-Qaeda affiliates biggest terror threat -- Xinhuanet
After bin Laden: questions, conspiracies and Al Qaeda today -- The National