The drones attacks are illegal, a total violation of the UN Charter. As such they are a war crime. The murder of civilians in a sovereign country is barbaric which does not conform to the high ideals on which this great country was formed.
The is what Senator McCain said.
The use of drone strikes against suspected Islamist militants in Pakistan is an effective part of US strategy and should continue, Republican Senator John McCain said Thursday.
His comments came after Al-Qaeda reportedly said an attack on a US base in eastern Afghanistan which killed seven CIA agents was to avenge drone strikes that have killed prominent militants.
"The drone strikes are part of an overall set of tactics which make up the strategy for victory and they have been very effective," McCain told reporters during a brief trip to Afghanistan.
Drones had "knocked Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups off balance and they have been successful, and we are working more closely with the Afghan government as well as the Pakistan government to make those operations more efficient and less damaging to the civilian population," McCain said.
"I think it should continue, I think it's an important tool in our overall strategy and we can claim measurable success in carrying out those operations."
The US is a nation of laws, not men. The illegal operations have caused more than a 1000 civilian deaths, five time that number of casualties, and affected a hundred times that number. Drones only create more Anti-Americanism. Terrorists can be nabbed by means other than drones.
2 comments:
Although drones look like a new miracle weapon, they are bound to have serious and unpredictable side effects, side effects for which we have to pay later. The "Collateral damage" (killing of innocent civilians) which the drones are inflicting will inflame hatred toward America. Each time a drone attack kills an innocent person, it hands al-Qaeda a propaganda victory.
Being attacked by remote control will make the terrorists feel superior to an adversary who obviously is too much of a coward to confront them in person.
The local population feels terrorized by the United States because we are killing people by remote control on their home soil. The population will support al-Qaeda, because al-Qaeda is fighting their common adversary. Terrorizing a civilian population will only strengthen its resolve, as I learned while growing up in Germany during World War II. The Allies were bombing the German cities, terrorizing and killing the civilian population. This terror bombing, rather than weakening the population's resolve, increased their determination to resist. It was a matter of survival.
The operator of the drone, safely based at some Air Force base in Nevada, pushes a button to kill by remote control. Killing Pakistanis thousands of miles away, as if it was a video game. At the end of his shift of killings this operator safely goes home to his family. Unless such a drone operator is already a psychopath to begin with, he is bound to eventually experience guilt and post traumatic stress when he finally realizes what he has done to other human beings, to innocent people and their families.
It will only be a matter of time before the drones come home to roost. The Immigration Department is already using drones on the border with Mexico. How long will it be before our government will use drones to spy on its own citizens, or shoot at "outlaws"?
Post a Comment