Politics & Government

Dearborn Imam Finds Drone Policy 'Troubling'

Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini of the Islamic Center of America expressed concerns over the Obama administration's drone policy after remarks made by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.

A Dearborn imam expressed concerns over the Obama administration’s drone policy after remarks made by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul during a filibuster last week, according to a report on MLive.com.

Paul criticized the notion that the president could use drones against American citizens on U.S. soil, including Arab-Americans in Dearborn.

“If you are sitting in a cafeteria in Dearborn, Mich., if you happen to be an Arab-American who has a relative in the Middle East and you communicate with them by e-mail and somebody says, ‘Oh, your relative is someone we suspect of being associated with terrorism,’ is that enough to kill you? For goodness sakes, wouldn’t we try to arrest and come to the truth by having a jury and a presentation of the facts on both sides of the issue?” Paul said during the filibuster, according to the Detroit Free Press.

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Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini of the Islamic Center of America told WJR’s Frank Beckmann that he found Paul’s comments that Arab-Americans could be targeted by drones “troubling.”

"Even though Sen. Paul's statement was hypothetical, just to imagine that can happen within the realms of the administration's laws and regulations is very troubling," Al-Qazwini said.

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Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter to Paul that said the president did not have the authority to use drones against Americans on U.S. soil, according to the New York Times.


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