Saxby Chambliss: “I think my friend from Arizona is exactly right. There have been rumors of the drone program for actually a couple years…”

“I think my friend from Arizona is exactly right. There have been rumors of the drone program for actually a couple years now, maybe back almost into some period back into the Bush administration. As a member of the Intelligence Committee, we were always told--and rightfully so--this is a covert program and we simply cannot discuss it. So we never have. Now we pick up the newspaper, and over the last several weeks we have seen the President of the United States discussing the drone program. We have seen the Attorney General of the United States discussing the drone program. We have seen the National Security Adviser discussing the drone program. Yet, technically, we as Members of Congress--particularly members of the Intelligence Committee--cannot talk about this because they are covert programs. So there is simply no question but that our enemy is better prepared today because of these various leaks and public disclosures. Let me move to the other issue the Senator has talked about, though, the issue of the nuclear weaponization of Iran. There is no more important national security issue in the world today. It is a daily discussion at the United Nations, it is a daily discussion at the Pentagon, it is a daily discussion in Israel and in virtually every part of the Middle East that we cannot allow for the country of Iran to become nuclear weaponized.…”