Bill O'Reilly and Kirsten Powers sparred about drones on Wednesday's "O'Reilly Factor," when the Fox News host said he wanted to know why "far-left loons" who oppose drones and Guantanamo are "so crazy."
“Only crazy people don’t want drones, Bill?” Powers asked. O'Reilly asked how else, if not by using drones, people should "protect" themselves against terrorists.
The two disagreed on almost every single point that the other person brought up. Powers demanded evidence that drone warfare has actually protected the United States. An indignant O'Reilly asked if she was saying that the attacks "have not badly damaged the enemy."
Powers argued that by bombing civilians, drones have actually spurred more antagonism towards the United States and created more potential terrorists. "So in a war on terror, you're not supposed to attack the enemy because they might get mad?" O'Reilly asked.
When he pressed on the number of civilians who have been killed, she responded, "Are you seriously saying that civilians are not being killed by drones?"
"They don't launch the drones unless there is a likelihood that civilians will not be killed," O'Reilly shot back.
"That's not true," Powers declared.
"That's what President Obama said flat-out," O'Reilly said, adding that the president should get "the benefit of the doubt" in lieu of other evidence.
The issue has been a contentious one for pundits — particularly at the beginning of the year as Obama readied to nominate John Brennan, the architect of the drone program, to the post of CIA director. The debate about drones, however, has taken a backseat to the Obama administration's other controversies in recent weeks.
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