What if it were Bush's drone policy?

David Jackson, USA TODAY | USATODAY

The leak of a document on the Obama administration's drone strike policy has some people in Washington playing the "what if" game.

What if President George W. Bush's administration had written such a document on the legality of drone attacks, even on U.S. citizens working with suspected terrorists overseas?

Former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer tweeted: "Good thing (Department of Justice) drone memo didn't come out in 2008. Candidate Obama would never have put up with stuff like that going on."

Joe Scarborough, the former Republican congressman who hosts MSNBC's Morning Joe, said that if this were the Bush administration, there would be "congressional hearings" and "articles of impeachment."

Candidate Obama and Democrats did indeed criticize Bush-era counterterrorism policies, such as warrantless wiretaps and enhanced interrogation techniques (waterboarding).

Aides to President Obama said he is continuing the war on terrorism, authorized by Congress shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Obama "takes the absolute necessity to conduct our war against al-Qaeda and its affiliates in a way that's consistent with the Constitution and our laws very seriously," said White House press secretary Jay Carney.

The spokesman added that "it is a matter of fact that al-Qaeda is in a state of war against us and that senior leaders, operational leaders of al-Qaeda are continually plotting to attack the United States, plotting to kill American citizens as they did most horrifically on Sept. 11, 2001."

The debate over Obama's drone strike policy may not end soon, as noted by the Associated Press:

"Uncomfortable with the Obama administration's use of deadly drones, a growing number in Congress is looking to limit America's authority to kill suspected terrorists, even U.S. citizens. The Democratic-led outcry was emboldened by the revelation in a newly surfaced Justice Department memo that shows drones can strike against a wider range of threats, with less evidence, than previously believed.

"The drone program, which has been used from Pakistan across the Middle East and into North Africa to find and kill an unknown number of suspected terrorists, is expected to be a top topic of debate when the Senate Intelligence Committee grills John Brennan, the White House's pick for CIA chief, at a hearing Thursday."