Defending the government’s use of unmanned drones, President Barack Obama on Thursday detailed circumstances under which it is reckless to deploy American troops.
“In some of these places – such as parts of Somalia and Yemen – the state has only the most tenuous reach into the territory,” Obama said during a speech at National Defense University, according to text as prepared for delivery. “In other cases, the state lacks the capacity or will to take action. It is also not possible for America to simply deploy a team of Special Forces to capture every terrorist. And even when such an approach may be possible, there are places where it would pose profound risks to our troops and local civilians– where a terrorist compound cannot be breached without triggering a firefight with surrounding tribal communities that pose no threat to us, or when putting U.S. boots on the ground may trigger a major international crisis.”
Obama highlighted one of the best-known American military operations as an example, saying that it “cannot be the norm.”
“To put it another way, our operation in Pakistan against Osama bin Laden cannot be the norm,” Obama said. “The risks in that case were immense; the likelihood of capture, although our preference, was remote given the certainty of resistance; the fact that we did not find ourselves confronted with civilian casualties, or embroiled in an extended firefight, was a testament to the meticulous planning and professionalism of our Special Forces – but also depended on some luck. And even then, the cost to our relationship with Pakistan – and the backlash among the Pakistani public over encroachment on their territory – was so severe that we are just now beginning to rebuild this important partnership.”
