Tabetha Wallace

By Saif Alnuweiri

This week, RT’s Watching the Hawks program took on the U.S. drone program, following news that two Western hostages – including an American – were among those killed in a U.S. drone strike against al Qaeda targets in Pakistan. President Obama apologized for the civilian deaths, but also said the strike was “fully consistent with the guidelines” for drone missions.

That was too much for Hawks co-host Tabetha Wallace. “We’re telling you those guidelines are wrong,” she said. Wallace also lashed out at the timing of the announcement – three months after the strike took place. “Why would you wait that many months?” she said.  “You knew they were dead in January and you didn’t do anything about it sooner?”

“It’s the usual,” said Wallace, tripping over her words in frustration. “You don’t get the surveillance right. You do things under guidelines that people are questioning time and time again. And the idea is, ‘Well, it’s OK, we did it within the guidelines.’ Your guidelines are flawed, and your system is flawed,” she said.

By Saif Alnuweiri