Besides finding out the legal basis the US established to kill one of its citizens, we also found out that we have a previously secret drone base in Saudi Arabia. Suddenly the Brennen nomination hearing for CIA director has the potential to be prime time viewing. I've two reactions to both the news of this base and the impending nomination hearing.
1) We know there is an airstrip in Djibouti where drones routinely take off and land. And I appreciate that Yemen is a big place and acknowledge limited technical knowledge of the flight range of our drone fleet, but did we need a secret base? Or was it easier for the CIA to have a secret base in Saudi Arabia instead of flying drones out of Djibouti?
2) While the leaked memo justifying the targeting of Awlaki could come up, I don't know how much the broader drone program will. It seems like a popular program in the country and I wonder what kind of political mileage the GOP would get for disparaging it, especially since it's a resource the Bush administration employed (along with extraordinary rendition and enhance interrogation, which have gone by the wayside in this administration). In the end the hearing could be much ado about very little.
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