Obama Drone Dilemma Needs to be Addressed in the State of the Union

After the release of the Drone Memo last week, which revealed the Obama Administration's legal justification for its unchecked drone program for the first time, there is a strong pressure for President Obama to address the growing concerns about the drone program and the kill list that has claimed the lives of several Americans involved with terrorist activities.

1. There are strong doubts about the constitutionality of Obama's Drone Program and Kill List.

Many legal experts and critics strongly question the legality of the Obama Administration's drone program. PolicyMic's own Robert Taylor presented a stirring argument on the unconstitutional nature of Obama's drone program.

The problems is that there are no checks and balances on the Executive Branch's ability to authorize the termination of top terrorist leaders it deems to be a "imminent threat" the the U.S., including Americans like Anwar Al-Awaki.

2. Many critics are calling Obama a hypocrite and betrayer of liberal principles.

When Obama was running for President during 2008, he was a fierce critic of the Bush Administrations  tough tactics in its national security strategy. But now many feel that the U.s. Drone Program and other tactics being used by Obama makes him a hypocrite. 

Now, 44 percent of Americans believe that Obama is no better than Bush in how he has handled the U.S. Drone Program, acording to a poll conducted by The Hill. Many liberals are defending Obama saying they trust his judgement, which is troublesome given their equally unsubstantiated mistrust of President Bush.

3. Cheney applauds Obama Drone Program as being "good policy."

During an appearance on CBS This Morning, Former Vice President Dick Cheney stated that Obama's Drone Program was "a good policy" because the President is being "paid to make tough, tough choices."

This statemen furthers the public concern about Obama's continuation of Bush's policies given the endorsement form Cheney.

Then again, Cheney also said that Obama’s foreign policy was “terribly flawed,” because the President came into the White House “to reduce U.S. influence in the world.”