"Drone Wars: The Empire Strikes (Back?)"
The Special Activities Division(SAD) of the CIA have dramatically increased their war powers and military activities with the blessings and efforts of the Obama Administration. They have used drones to kill "militants" in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen and Somalia and there is little doubt that they have killed many innocent civilians in each of those countries as well.
THIS is supposed to increase US security? How? Is anyone so foolish as to believe that these attacks will not only create a vacuum that will be filled by others but will ALSO create new generations of those who want to destroy the enemy that sends missiles hurling from unmanned vehicles in ways considered cowardly terrorist attacks to many?
And who could argue that they do induce terror in the population? Equipped with cameras, they are open to human error such as the case when innocents were killed for being tall and looking like Osama Bin Laden many yeas ago or when farmers carry hoes that can be mistaken for weapons? Daniel L. Byman from the Brookings Institution suggests that drone strikes may kill "10 or so civilians" for every militant killed.
Is this the kind of foreign policy you want? Is this how you want the image of America to be transmitted across the world? How important is it to you? How does one weigh the cost of this in terms of not only money but in reputation when we have the will and the means to do this but we allow 1.6 million of our own children to be homeless?
The Democratic Party has proven that they are strong on "Security" as it has been defined by the opposition party and in doing so, they have lost their identity. While boasting about how "our guy" killed Bin Laden, got rid of Qaddafi, etc., what has been lost is the chance to re-define national security as the ability to grow a strong new generation of Americans by improving their education and health. THAT could and should be OUR definition of National Security, but instead we have empowered the lie that national security is an extension military power and can only be defined through killing and regime changes abroad.
When some of us say we have lost our way and become virtually indistinguishable from THEM, this is what we are talking about.
And don't even START me talking about the NDAA act, the continuation of torture, the indefinite detentions, the targeted assassinations, the world-leading amount of incarcerations for petty drug offenses that amount to a war on the underclass and the forceful oppression of peaceful protestors that has gone unchallenged by the Admin.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=3056&Cat=13
[h3]Drone attacks up by 134 pc in 2010, deaths up by 56 pc[/h3]
The American drones carried out a record number of 124 attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan in the 12 months of 2010, more than double the number of predator strikes conducted in the 12 months of 2009, killing 1184 people, compared with 2009’s death toll of 760 in 53 such attacks.
The figures show that on average, ten more persons were killed by the American drones every month and two more persons were perished in such strikes every week, compared with 2009’s figures.
As always, most of those killed by the US drones were innocent civilians.
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I do not know how anyone in their right mind can support this.
I read a story in a British newspaper about a 15 year old Pakistani boy who was loved in his home town. And of course by his family. The story actually personalize him, unlike here where we never speak about the human beings we kill.
He was busy with life, his friends, school just like any American teenager and was his parents pride and joy. But one day one of our drones killed him and several other innocent people.
His family and friends, as anyone can imagine, were devastated. They did not become violent, but they and hundreds of others demonstrated peacefully demanding that their government stop the killing of their people. Those demonstrations have been going on for years now. And they have been ignored by the US Media.
Jeremy Scahill said in his excellent article on our 'secret war in Pakistan' that the CIA runs this 'drone' program. And that they are based in Kuwait or maybe it was Qatar. He also said that Blackwater is involved in these murders, and yes they are murders.
My heart goes out to those people living in terror the way they do, and the criminal heartlessness of our government who refuse to even listen to the loved ones, but continue their murderous games.
What should people of conscience do about this? Who is responsible and who is in charge? Has the CIA gone rogue or is someone controlling them?
Last week I read that they have suspended the Drone program over Pakistan after murdering 24 of their soldiers and causing maybe a final rift with Pakistan.
One source from the State Dept. said 'we can't kill our way out of this'. Which gave me the impression that there is a split over these policies between the State Dept and the CIA or whoever they are.
for all the innocents murdered for no good reason. I am ashamed of this country.
