Rogers repeatedly zeroed in on the president's public remarks. Rogers: Drone limits put U.S. at risk

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers charged Tuesday that Americans are in greater danger as a result of limits President Barack Obama imposed last year on U.S. drone strikes overseas.

“The President’s May 2013 policy changes for U.S. targeted strikes are an utter and complete failure and they leave Americans’ lives at risk,” Rogers said at the outset of a hearing on global threats to U.S. security.


“Individuals who would have previously been removed from the battlefield by U.S. counterterrorism operations for attacking or plotting against U.S. interests remain free because of self-imposed red tape. While we are busy pondering more ‘transparency,’ our intelligence professionals are left paralyzed because of totally incoherent policy guidance,” the Michigan Republican added.

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Rogers repeatedly zeroed in on Obama’s public remarks, suggesting that the president was making changes that sound “good” or “nice” in speeches but are unworkable and dangerous in practice. The intelligence chairman also directed another barb at Obama, lamenting his response to security challenges as “assigning a task force to think about a problem.”

“That is not leadership,” Rogers declared. “We are in a fight, and our policy should be dictated by what best protects America, and not what is politically expedient.”

In Obama’s May 2013 speech, he attempted to respond to criticism of U.S. drone operations by announcing that the U.S. would only use such force against suspected terrorists in the future when operation planners were nearly completely sure civilians would not be killed.

( Also on POLITICO: Feinstein spots drone inches from face)

“Before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured — the highest standard we can set,” the president said.

Under questioning by Democratic House members, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper broadly defended Obama’s general approach to national security issues, including the storm over National Security Agency surveillance.

“I do not feel that the administration and the president specifically is getting in the way of the intelligence mission,” Clapper said. He praised as “cathartic” Obama’s speech last month on surveillance issues.

Asked specifically if he believed Obama administration decisions had put America more at risk, Clapper said, “No, I do not.”

However, at one point the intelligence chief appeared to repeat his statement at a Senate hearing last week that policy changes the administration is undertaking could make it more difficult to detect terrorist plots.

“The combination of the compromises, the decisions we’ve made and then the budget reductions occasioned by sequestration….the cumulative effect of all of this is what I worry about,” Clapper said, referring to an ensuing “reduction in our capacity.”