There *is* a split within "the ruling class," including a split within the Administration between (broadly speaking) the CIA and the military on the one hand and State and Justice on the other, with the former pushing for expanded drone strikes and the latter pushing back.
The Washington Post has called for the CIA to get out of drone strikes. So has Human Rights Watch. People I talk to in Congress and nearby think that this is a plausible ask. You can read the Washington Post's reasoning here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/us-drone-war-demands-accountability/2012/11/01/56627964-2380-11e2-8448-81b1ce7d6978_story.html Here's Human Rights Watch on the same theme in April: http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/04/20/us-transfer-cia-drone-strikes-military and December: http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/12/19/us-end-cia-drone-attacks On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 5:19 PM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: > Robert Naiman wrote: >> Contrary to conventional wisdom, there are realistic and useful things >> that Congress could do to downsize the drone strike policy: > > I don't know who the conventional wiseguys are, but reforms can happen > when there are debates within the ruling class. (The classic case was > the ruling-class split over the Vietnam war.) Some of those reforms > can actually benefit those outside of the ruling class, at least in > the short run. > > That is, people who protest the US military/intelligence state can > push policies away from those which favor some ruling class factions > (e.g., the 2003 war against Iraq) and toward policies that favor other > factions (e.g., increased aid to help with natural disasters). Of > course, as actually implemented even the latter policies will favor > those with the most political clout (as seen in aid for Haiti). A > larger protest movement might actually push the ruling class to do > foreign aid better or even make major concessions. > > The Obamen seem pretty wedded to drone attacks (likely because it's > better than using troops) so I have a hard time getting how asking > Congress to "get the CIA out of drone strikes; stop 'secondary > strikes' and attacks on rescuers" etc. will have any effect. Who would > replace the CIA, for example? the Pentagon? would the latter be better > in some way? > -- > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your > own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] "But sad to say the chances happen never You have to reach up high and man is low! We'd all be glad to live in peace forever It seems that circumstance won't have it so!" - "The World Is Mean," Threepenny Opera, Brecht/Blitzstein 1928/1954 _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
