Yesterday, consistent with the long U.S. tradition of mission creeps, the Obama Administration authorized the use of killer Predator drones in Libya.
Forget the collateral damage, we can’t even solve a closed room crime like the Jonbenet Ramsey murder. And, after the most rigorous process the American “Justice” System can muster, people here are regularly exonerated from death row because DNA evidence proves they couldn’t possibly have committed the crime that put them there.
So now you’re going to tell me when these military institutions target and kill folks half-a-world away with this and other operations — when they often can’t even speak the language — they’re going to get it right?
Just in case you thought they would:
In Pakistan, U.S. drones have killed 25 people in North Waziristan. The dead reportedly included five children and four women. –U.S. Drone Strike Kills 25 in Pakistan
The US military has faulted a group of officers for a February drone attack that killed twenty-three Afghan civilians [including children] and wounded a dozen more. The drone operators launched the attack from the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, where the drones are controlled. –US Faults Officers for Drone Attack Killings of 23 Afghan Civilians
A U.S. Predator drone missile strike killed up to 40 innocent civilians in Pakistan’s tribal area on Thursday, outraging Pakistani government and military officials. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the “irrational” attack and said it will “only strengthen [the] hands of radical and extremist elements…. –CIA drone kills 40 civilians in Pakistan, March 18th, 2011 2:54 am ET, Michael Hughes, Examiner
KATHY KELLY: We vigiled and protested at Creech because we believed it was very important to call attention to the fact that the United States is, at an alarming rate, moving into robotic warfare… There’s so little accountability…. children are among those who are being killed. And this is happening with such regularity in Pakistan and Afghanistan. …under international law, It’s clear that targeted assassinations, these arbitrary killings, extrajudicial killings, are not allowed and that citizens have a duty, a responsibility, to prevent it. –Activists Go on Trial in Nevada for Protesting Obama Admin Drone Program
I don’t know about you, but if my family, friends, neighbors and/or my countrymen — especially children — were blown away by a predator drone from a foreign country, I’d take up clandestine arms and do the most possible damage — perpetual war until I saw justice done to those responsible. And you better keep me away from the nukes. –April 22, 2011, 13:29:11
