GEOGRAPHY TRANSCENDS CITIZENSHIP

The drone strike debate has raised an interesting question for me. This is said with the understanding that we are talking about terrorists, lethal crimes committed against our citizens at home or abroad. The question was, “Can the U.S. Government use a drone strike in the United States even if it is a matter of self defense of our citizens?” My knee jerk response was, “hell no they can’t”. Reading further, I come across the idea that a drone strike is a viable alternative only if the “target” cannot be captured by other means. The implication is that captured means “and brought to trial”.  That changed everything for me; if we have to send the army, navy, and marines into a sovereign nation to capture a “target”, that is risk a war, then a drone is a viable alternative regardless of the citizenship of the target. That is not the case for a “target” in the United States. We can find a way to capture him or her regardless of his or her citizenship.