This targeted-killing program illustrates the Bush W.-Obama continuity regarding the "smok'em out" approach to national security. The following quote from the article perfectly captures the mindset among planners in the mode of power projection:
In focusing on bureaucratic refinements, the administration has largely avoided confronting more fundamental questions about the [kill] lists. Internal doubts about the effectiveness of the drone campaign are almost nonexistent. So are apparent alternatives.
In the rarified air of foreign policy and statecraft, the bipartisan, red-blue circus disappears. The mood is wholly unsentimental. Sentimentality is saved for speeches after Americans are attacked because of US regional conduct. The drone program is part of that conduct.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/plan-for-hunting-terrorists-signals-us-intends-to-keep-adding-names-to-kill-lists/2012/10/23/4789b2ae-18b3-11e2-a55c-39408fbe6a4b_story.html
