Despite being opposed to drone usage on American citizens in the past, Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul defended President Obama over a recent strike by an unmanned aerial vehicle that killed two hostages in the Middle East.
“I do think there’s a valuable use for drones. As much as I’m seen as an opponent of drones, I think in military and warfare they have value,” the Kentucky senator, who recently launched his 2016 campaign for the White House, said on Fox News Monday morning. “This is a different situation. You have hostages there, you have people holding the hostages. I’ve been an opponent of using drones on people not involved in combat.”
Paul said that because there is no “due process” in a war zone, Obama’s decision to use unmanned aerial vehicles is understandable.
“I tend not to want to blame the president for the loss of life here. I think he was trying to do the right thing,” he said.
The White House revealed last week that a January strike on an al Qaeda compound in Pakistan killed two hostages being held there, one American and one Italian.
