So, Who Can We Kill?

(5 of 5)

Of course, it might seem easier to simply wind down the drone war entirely. When he departed the Pentagon counsel's office last year, Johnson caused a stir with an exit speech that envisioned a "tipping point" at which America might declare the war on al-Qaeda over. After that, the U.S. might lean more on regional allies to round up (or kill) terrorism suspects and turn to traditional criminal-justice methods to pursue terrorist operatives. Some found support for this scenario in the Administration's recent decision to arraign bin Laden's captured son-in-law in a Manhattan court rather than send him to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp. As a 2008 candidate, Obama repeatedly vowed to close Gitmo, but resistance from Congress stymied him. "It's not a forgotten issue," says one Administration official.

It may also be notable--and surprising--that the pace of drone strikes has slowed. The 48 strikes in Pakistan last year were less than half the 2010 total, which, according to the New America Foundation, was 122. There have been no strikes in Yemen since Feb. 1 of this year. Whether that's a breather or a strategic shift remains to be seen. It probably also depends on how successful African forces are at fighting al-Qaeda when French troops withdraw from Mali in April. Northern Africa could be an inflection point for Obama to choose between a renewed killing campaign--one that might require new legal authority--or a less kinetic effort that relies on a combination of indigenous forces, foreign aid and arrests instead of guided missiles.

Meanwhile, the domestic debate seems sure to rage on. At the CPAC conference five years ago, Cheney thrilled the conservative crowd with a speech that made no apologies for the remorseless approach he and Bush had taken toward the war on terrorism. "Would I support those same decisions today? You're damn right I would," Cheney said, to roaring applause.

Five years later, the CPAC crowd had found a new hero in Rand Paul. "No one person gets to decide the law," Paul declared. "If we allow one man to charge Americans as enemy combatants and indefinitely detain or drone them, then what exactly is it that our brave young men and women are fighting for?" For the moment, at least, Obama might not mind having Cheney rejoin the political debate.

Time.com

So, Who Can We Kill?

A bipartisan revolt from the right and left puts Obama and his drone war on the defensive