Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

Recently Donald Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Qassim Suleimani, the commander of the military forces in Iran. When news about the drone strike came out, the left and sadly some conservative members of Congress, such as Rand Paul and Mike Lee, decided to go on full outrage mode. This is partially due to the fact that Trump chose to put the strike into motion without consulting Congress. However, there are others who act as if Trump decided to assassinate the Dali Lama or Hugsy the Owl.

Many years back I had written about how Barrack Obama had routinely used drones to kill those he claimed as combatants without a single form of oversight. I didn’t feel that comfortable with any president having a kill list and unlimited powers to execute it, since it could one day be used on any American that could be deemed an enemy of the state. To be honest, I still don’t feel comfortable with the president having that much power. That being said, Suleimani was hardly Hugsy the Owl. Once again, it is sad to see Judge Andrew Napolitano let the apparent vendetta that he has with Trump drag him further towards the deep end. In a recent article, he compared Obama’s use of drones where innocent people were killed and an American citizen had been executed without Due Process to that of the killing of Suleimani. Okay, let us be honest, Suleimani was not an innocent civilian leading a boy scout troop. He was a scumbag terrorist leader that caused the deaths of hundreds of Americans. One of his last acts wasn’t to lead a camping trip, but to plan a Benghazi style attack on an American embassy. This man actually fit the very definition of an enemy combatant. I can definitely say that any man who kills hundreds of my fellow countrymen, is not going to get a single tear from me when he was taken off this planet

What I find the most telling about the Democrats who have shown outrage over the death of a proven terrorist is that they didn’t even seem to blink an eye when Obama killed five hundred people with drone attacks, which included innocent civilians and an American citizen who was never given the benefit of a trial. Keep in mind that Obama is not only unrepented about his use of drones, but he even bragged about it during an interview. As for Trump’s refusal to notify Congress before taking action, I do remember a certain Noble Peace Prize winner who waited until Congress was out for the day before ordering an attack on Libya. Gee, what was his name? As for the Republicans who are mad at Trump, they should know that from the way that Congress has treated his administration from day one, it shouldn’t be any wonder why he doesn’t trust them with vital information. Trust is something that is earned, not demanded. Besides, other than the power to declare war, all military action falls under the authority of the Commander and Chief.

I also find it amusing that all of the anti-war protestors that suddenly appeared during the Bush administration and just as suddenly disappeared when Obama was elected are now back. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically when I heard the news, since it proved a point that I have made in previous articles about how these groups only appear whenever there is a military based conflict brewing during a Republican administration. None of these groups seemed active when we had even bigger conflicts during the Clinton and Obama administrations. It’s also amusing that the same people who were mad at Trump for wanting to pull out of Syria are now beating the anti-war drums during our current conflict with Iran. Could these people be any more hypocritical?

Now, the people I am willing to cut a little slack to are Tucker Carlson, Tulsi Gabbard and just about anyone else who has held a consistent anti-war position. These people are concerned about this conflict escalating into an all-out war. I can’t say that their concerns aren’t legitimate, since the last thing that the country needs right now is another war. Though I don’t think it will get to that point. Ever since Trump had Iran’s top general killed, they don’t seem to have much to fill in the void. Their idea of retaliation for the death of Suleimani was to fire a bunch of missiles at a military base without inflicting a single causality. To me that seems more like a glorified hissy fit, than some ominous attempt at escalating the conflict into a war. This makes the forces in Iran look more a like a paper tiger than a formable foe.

I think it is also worth pointing out to those who are firmly anti-war that if you take a look at Trump’s record on foreign policy it has actually been much more restrained than the last four administrations. For those who question the morality of Trump’s actions I would say that I find the idea of killing the very man who has caused the deaths of hundreds Americans to be a much better response than carpet bombing or invading an entire country, which would lead to another long-term war where we waste thousands of American lives, along with billions of dollars of resources to repair the country once we are done destroying it. As L. Neil Smith pointed out recently, this form of response was more in line with the Non-Aggression Principle, than a full-on military response that will cause needless causalities among both military and civilians alike.