&gt; Logically, if the U.S. feels justified in targeted drone strikes against legitimate threats to national security, what&#x27;s to stop China or Russia from doing the same?<p>Um, nations have been using military force of whatever kind they have available -- and doing so in whatever ways minimize what they have at risk for what they stand to achieve -- for a very long time, longer than the US has been around.<p>Its not like Russia or China would <i>refrain</i> from using drones, where available, just because the US hadn&#x27;t done it first.<p>&gt; Who has the &quot;moral high ground&quot;, if such a thing exists, in such cases?<p>The moral high ground is highly subjective, and generally perceived as being strongly linked to the validity of the justification.<p>Not that the moral high ground matters all that much in practice if the outrage level isn&#x27;t tied to groups with both the capacity and the will to do something about it which influences the national interest calculation.