GOP Rep. Peter King Dismisses Concerns About Drone Warfare: ‘So Much Liberal Hand-Wringing’
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) denounced the “liberal hand-wringing” that he says has characterized the reaction to a recently leaked Justice Department memo which justifies drone strikes against American citizens abroad. King said that the actions President Barack Obama has taken are necessary in order to prosecute the war on terror effectively.
RELATED: GOP Sen. Graham Defends Obama’s Drones: ‘Every Member Of Congress Needs To Get On Board’
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell asked King for his thoughts on the Obama administration’s legal justification for drone strikes against American citizens involved with terrorist groups. “Do we have enough information that can be made public about the tests – the legal tests – before the administration decides, unilaterally, to take action against citizens overseas?” Mitchell asked.
“I fully support targeted operations that have been carried out,” King replied. “I think the president has done the right thing.”
“I’m not trying to minimize this, but I think there’s been a lot of liberal hand-wringing going on,” he continued. “We’re engaged in a war.”
King said that there is nothing moral in not taking action against an imminent threat to the United States because “we wanted to feel good about ourselves.” He added that, during the Civil War, every combatant was an American citizen and no court order was required to kill Confederate soldiers on the battlefield.
King concluded by saying that he felt that if an American citizen were to join Al Qaeda and engage in terrorist operations, “that makes it all the worse.”
Watch the clip below via MSNBC:
