joG
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I don't doubt that, but it's irrelevant to the discussion. There isn't a chance that someone hiding in a shack in Pakistan is a direct and imminent threat to the US. In those situations where they are tracked and located by US intelligence, they can be targeted by Pakistani ground forces. Otherwise, why is America sending $billions to Pakistan in annual military aid.
The theory leaves out the fact that Pakistan is a mess and giving their security forces the coordinates has proven counterproductive in most cases.
Also it is, while correct that the person in most cases will not be a clear and present danger, the perp can often be a grave danger that will no longer be preventable, once the opportunity is past.
now one can debate the trade off between soft and hard benefits and costs of drone strikes vs other methods. But I tend to believe the elimination of threat is a duty of government.