Rand Paul Talks Up Drone Strikes

So much for due process.

The Hill reports:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) late Tuesday said if the United States discovered any of the released Guantanamo Bay prisoners were planning a terrorist attack, “there would be a drone with their name on it.”

On Fox News’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” Paul was asked if he advocates tracking them down and killing them if they plot against the U.S. “I would say that there would be a drone with their name on it,” replied Paul, who has been somewhat critical of portions of President Obama’s drone program.

MSNBC theorizes:

Yesterday’s rhetoric seemed especially out of place given all of the senator’s recent posturing on the issue of drone strikes, and raises some important questions about Paul’s actual beliefs.

It’s possible, for example, that the Kentucky Republican is starting to engage in some chest-thumping, there-would-be-a-drone-with-their-name-on-it “tough” talk in order to impress his party establishment. As Paul gears up for a national campaign, he’s no doubt aware of the fact that many Republicans reject his foreign policy vision and fear his general preference for isolationism.

In other words, maybe the senator is starting to talk more like the typical Republican, talking up things like drone strikes during Fox News interviews, to make himself more appealing to his intra-party critics.

-RW