Obama acknowledged that innocent people had been killed in US drone attacks, but defended the strikes on the grounds that by eliminating Al Qaeda operatives, they have disrupted terrorist plots and saved lives. He pointed out that the number of Muslims killed by Al Qaeda’s terrorist attacks “dwarfs any estimate of civilian casualties from drone strikes.”
奥巴马承认美国无人机袭击造成了无辜人民伤亡，但也辩护说这些空袭清除了基地组织据点、摧毁了恐怖分子藏身之所，拯救了生命。他指出，基地组织恐怖袭击所杀害的穆斯林数量“比任何无人机空袭伤亡估计数字都要远远过之。”