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US approves plan to beef up oversight of drone attacks
[Pak Daily Times] The US Senate Intelligence Committee has quietly approved a plan to step up both public and internal government oversight of the use of armed drones to kill suspected snuffies overseas, including American citizens.The committee voted in closed session earlier this week to approve legislative language that would require US spy agencies to make public statistics on how many people were killed or injured in missile strikes launched from US-operated drones. The committee also approved language intended to bolster scrutiny of secret spy agency deliberations over decisions about targeting US citizens or residents for lethal drone strikes overseas. The B.O. regime has been under heavy pressure from foreign governments, the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... and human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights,mind you... groups to be more transparent and rigorous in accounting for the civilian casualties caused by drone strikes. Though the committee did not release full details of its deliberations on the measures, sources familiar with the discussions said that some committee Republicans were opposed to the drone-related clauses in the bill, which would authorise intelligence activities for the current government fiscal year which began on October 1. Ultimately, according to a blurb issued by Senator Dianne Feinstein ...Dem Senator-for-Life from Caliphornica. She has been a politician since about the time she was weaned. Feinstein was the author of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, and tried it a second time in 2012. Feinstein has chaired the Select Committee on Intelligence since 2009. At age 80, Feinstein is the oldest currently serving United States Senator.... , the Democrat who chairs the intelligence panel, the committee approved the bill by a vote of 13-2. The two senators who voted against it were Republicans, a congressional source said. The blurb makes no mention of the language in the bill about drones. An official familiar with the matter said that this was because some Republicans argued that, since drone attacks are officially covert actions by the US government, it would be inappropriate to set rules for such operations in a public law. Posted by: Fred 2013-11-10 |
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