President Barack Obama will be speaking to the American public this afternoon to address the drones, Guantanamo Bay, and counterterrorism policy outlines, all hot-button topics, at 2pm ET. As of late, the president has been at the center of multiple controversies, notably the Department of Justice seizing phone records from the Associated Press, the IRS targeting groups with names that sounds too conservative, and the alleged White House cover up of the Benghazi attack on the U.S. consulate.
Drones have seemingly become the vehicle of choice for American aerial strikes overseas but have raised substantial questions when it became public that American citizens have been killed by the remote-controlled planes. USA Today predicts that the president may “announce new limits on drone strikes against overseas targets” which could silence or bolster some of his most outspoken naysayers on the subject, as the four American deaths by drones have all occurred since 2009. The Huffington Post notes that the deaths were all known even “before a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy acknowledged the four deaths.”
Check out our live stream of President Obama’s address to the nation this afternoon at 2pm ET:
President Obama has since pledged to the populous that he intends on being more forthcoming when it comes to drone strikes, though lawmakers up on Capitol Hill feel the president’s drone trigger finger ought to be a little lighter.
The president will also address his perpetual intent on closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba which houses some of the world’s most notorious and dangerous alleged terrorists. Closing Gitmo has been on the president’s agenda since first taking the oath of office in 2009 because he feels its unnecessarily expensive and inadequate for the defense of the country.
This week, the Pentagon asked Congress for more than $450 million for maintaining and upgrading the Guantanamo prison, possibly affirming the president’s sentiments.
Also on the laundry list of items to address this afternoon is the state of the U.S.’s counterterrorism efforts in general. The recent Boston Marathon bombings are still singed in the minds of Americans everywhere, turning an unsuspecting and joyous event of perseverance and citizenship into a destructive war zone. One of the suspects was killed in a shootout with the police while the other is in the custody of authorities.
Similarly,across the pond in Jolly Old, the U.K. people are still unnerved by a Jihad Muslim’s brutal murder of a British soldier after ramming him with a car and slashing him to death with a meat cleaver. The assailant and his partner actually waited 20 minutes for police, spewing rhetoric into a bystanders now viral video, who proceeded to wound the duo and take them into custody.
What do you all think President Obama will touch upon today? Do you think he will lay down outlines that you agree with or disagree with? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
