We should be out in the streets, protesting, indignant, upset that the good name of America is being dragged to the ground by such a practice. We should be mourning the loss of life of civilians, and crying for those who are living under a terror we are bringing upon them.
One report says for every one person the drones successfully target, they take another 49 non-targeted to the grave. Yes, I question the accuracy of such a figure. Is that number arrived at simply by counting the military leader who was targeted as the lone target, then counting all the rest of the soldiers killed as the 49 non-targeted deaths?
Still, I wonder whether drones do take out innocent bystanders, not just soldiers.
I wonder at the 416-948 civilian deaths from drones from 2004 to 2013, as reported by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Is that number accurate? And, is that too many civilian deaths for us to allow? Surely, some incidence of civilian loss of life is to be expected in a war. Are these lives, then, expendable? (Are these deaths very unfortunate, but justifiable, and therefore expendable?)
I wonder at the terror inflicted on the people. What would it be like to live with a drone hovering above your community 24 hours a day, being afradi a missile might flash down at any moment, engulfing your home?
Terrorism? Yes, that seems like terrorism. We have created terrorism in the name of fighting terrorism. And, we have placed our name on it.
If these accusations have some truth, then America -- the protector of freedom, and the defender truth and right -- is terrorizing and killing the innocents of Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and Yemen.
If these accusations have some truth, then we are soiling our good name with the blood of the poor and innocent. This thing should not be. If these accusations bear much truth, then the drone strikes that began in 2004 should end before we reach their tenth anniversary.
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/
http://www.livingunderdrones.org/
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