Sen. Kaine: The problem isn't the drones. It's the U.S. mission
WASHINGTON — The deaths of two hostages in a drone strike in Pakistan shouldn't raise questions about the use of drones, says Sen. Tim Kaine, a leading voice on foreign policy on Capitol Hill — but he says they should raise questions about the mission the United States is pursuing in the region nearly 14 years after the 9/11 attacks.
"A drone isn't any different than a bomb; it's not any different than other weapons that are used, where there is always a capacity for people to be killed who you wished were not," the Virginia Democrat told Capital Download on Thursday. "It's just the weapons platform.
"The real issue is, what's the mission in which you're using the platform? I think the reason that drones have become so controversial is because they're used in Pakistan; they're used in Yemen; they've been used in all kinds of places. When the original war against al-Qaeda started, people didn't think it would be over such a large geographical expanse and they certainly didn't think it would last this long."
Kaine says the original authorization to use force in the region, approved in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington, should be updated to include limits in timing and geography, and to reflect today's battles against terror groups rather than nation states.
That isn't likely to happen anytime soon, he acknowledges. But he says Senate negotiators are close to reaching a bipartisan compromise on a separate measure to authorize the use of force in Iraq and Syria against the terrorist group Islamic State. He says progress has been made behind the scenes on issues such as the use of ground troops.
"Earnest discussions are going on in the Foreign Relations Committee," he says. "Given that there's strong bipartisan support for American military action against ISIL, we should be able to find a path forward on this."
Battles between the White House and Congress, long centered on domestic concerns such as health care and immigration, have turned to foreign policy and national security issues. That includes not only the war in Afghanistan but also the 12-nation Pacific trade pact now being negotiated, the campaign against the Islamic State, and the emerging nuclear deal with Iran.
Kaine, a member of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, has emerged as an advocate for Congress assuming a stronger role, especially when military action is involved.
Last week, Obama dropped his threat to veto a measure, co-authored by Kaine, that would define Congress' role in reviewing the Iran deal. Kaine, an early backer of Obama in 2008 who also served as Democratic National Committee chairman, says the president wasn't pleased when that bill was introduced. "We had some good discussions about it," he says wryly.
The White House "didn't like the bill when it was first filed," Kaine says, but "as the momentum developed, I think the White House began to realize, first, we were getting votes and it was also bipartisan. But I think they also started to realize, you know, it isn't a matter of whether Congress engages or not; it's whether the engagement is productive and careful or whether it's a free-for-all."
Once it was clear the measure was going to command a veto-proof majority, Obama announced he would sign it.
Kaine, now 57, was on Obama's short list for vice president in 2008, and he has credentials that analysts say could put him on the short list for Hillary Clinton in 2016 as well: a senator and former governor from a swing state who just happens to be fluent in Spanish, from a year spent as a Catholic missionary in Honduras.
He defends Clinton against a string of stories about donations by foreign entities to the Clinton Foundation while she was secretary of State. "I have seen nothing to suggest that Secretary Clinton took any action, any action, as secretary of State or in an official capacity to advantage somebody who was a donor to the Clinton Foundation," he says. And he says the foundation itself is "doing good for the people of the world."
Asked whether he'd be interested in the vice presidential nomination in 2016, he demurs. "I am a very happy senator, I really am," he says.
The questioner noted that wasn't really a "no."
"Let me let you in on a secret," he replies. "I do plan to be on the podium with President Clinton when she's inaugurated in January 2017 — but I'm going to be sitting with the senators."