{"id":15870,"date":"2013-05-23T00:01:15","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T05:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/a-majority-of-americans-still-support-use-of-drones-despite-questions\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:30:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:30:47","slug":"a-majority-of-americans-still-support-use-of-drones-despite-questions","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/05\/23\/a-majority-of-americans-still-support-use-of-drones-despite-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"A majority of Americans still support use of drones despite questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Obama today plans to deliver a speech at the National Defense University in Washington in which he is expected to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/obama-speech-to-address-counterterrorism-measures\/2013\/05\/18\/32ddac80-bff1-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story.html\">discuss the legal framework<\/a> under which he has conducted his administration\u2019s counterterrorism program.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The speech comes at a time when the administration\u2019s increased use of drones to kill terrorist suspects has come under scrutiny on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/05\/23\/us\/us-acknowledges-killing-4-americans-in-drone-strikes.html?ref=global-home&amp;_r=1&amp;\">sent a letter to congressional leaders<\/a> acknowledging that the U.S. used a drone strike in Yemen in 2011 to kill radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an act that had raised questions because al-Awlaki was a U.S. citizen.\u00a0\u00a0 The administration also disclosed that three other U.S. citizens had been killed in past drone strikes, two in Yemen and one in Pakistan.<!--more--><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/02\/11\/continued-support-for-u-s-drone-strikes\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"efefef\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #efefef;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"311\" height=\"245\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" class=\"wp-image-28227 not-transparent\" alt=\"DN_Drone_Strikes\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/05\/DN_Drone_Strikes2.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/05\/DN_Drone_Strikes2.png 311w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/05\/DN_Drone_Strikes2.png?resize=300,236 300w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/05\/DN_Drone_Strikes2.png?resize=200,158 200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/05\/DN_Drone_Strikes2.png?resize=260,205 260w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2013\/05\/DN_Drone_Strikes2.png?resize=160,126 160w\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Obama is also expected to address the use and future of the Guantanamo Bay prison. Obama had pledged to close the prison at the beginning of his administration; detainees who are suspected of being terrorists are still held there.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the questions raised about the drone program by lawmakers of both parties, a majority of Americans (56%) continue to support the program, according to a February survey. Just 26% registered disapproval. The support cuts across partisan lines \u2013 68% of Republicans approve of the drone strikes as do 58% of Democrats. Independents support the program by a 50% to 31% margin.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, 53% of those surveyed said they were \u201cvery\u201d concerned that the drone strikes endangered civilian lives and another 28% described themselves as somewhat concerned.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was less concern about the legal basis for ordering the strikes, one of the issues that came up after the killing of al-Awlaki. About three-in-ten (31%) of Americans described themselves as \u201cvery\u201d concerned about whether strikes were conducted legally, while another 35% said they were somewhat concerned.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for the military prison at Guantanamo, where <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2013-05-20\/guantanamo-hunger-strike-passes-100-days\/4699710\">a hunger strike<\/a> by half of the prisoners has passed the 100-day mark, a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/2013\/05\/22\/fox-news-poll-voters-say-want-guantanamo-bay-kept-open\/\">Fox News poll<\/a> conducted May 18-20 found that 63% of registered voters want to keep the facility open while 28% favor closing it and moving the detainees to other prisons in the U.S. About half of those surveyed (48%) said the use of Guantanamo had made the U.S. safer, 22% said it had made the country less safe, while 15% did not express an opinion.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2013\/02\/11\/continued-support-for-u-s-drone-strikes\/\">Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite questions raised about the program, a majority of Americans continue to support the use of drone strikes against suspected terrorists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"bylines":[859],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[],"class_list":["post-15870","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","bylines-bruce-drake","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states"],"label":"Short 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