US Continues Extra-Judicial Drone Assassinations In Spite Of Innocents Being Murdered
The US Has Bombed at Least Eight Wedding Parties Since 2001
When will the Obama Administration learn that the highly misguided and illegal use of drones will always come back to haunt them? No matter how many times they try to justify the unlawful use of deadly force by drones, innocent people are always caught in the middle. The death of innocent women, children and elderly men has been a constant problem for both the CIA and the entire military chain of command responsible for these cold-blooded murders.
Dead victims of the Drone in Ra’ada, Yemen
The US Federal Government appears to be the only one in the world that has unlawfully arrogated power unto itself to commit these extra-judicial assassinations. Just because the deadly weapons are discharged from drones by remote control does not make these crimes against humanity any more acceptable. Murder is murder regardless of the weapon that is used.
Most of the nations that have fallen victim to this high tech military aggression by the USA have protested bitterly. Nevertheless, the CIA and Armed Services continue to support these international crimes. Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Somalia have complained of the flagrant invasion of their national sovereignty which these missile attacks represent. Yemen has just voted to ban them on their soil.
Yemeni parliament votes to ban drone attacks
Shocking Refusal To Express Public Regret Or Sincere Apology
What is most disturbing about this very sordid and ongoing saga is the persistent refusal of the US Government to issue any kind of apology for these atrocities. Because of the CIA’s routine lack of acknowledgment of these massacres, even the citizenry of the USA seems to be oblivious to such heinous crimes being committed in their name. They seem to occur and then are very quickly forgotten just like passing days of the week. Clearly, this is the most serious byproduct of these barbaric assaults in foreign lands. That the people have come to accept them as business as usual.
Only because these frequent fatal attacks are not being conducted in Western nations are they somehow justifiable. They have no legitimacy in international law, common law, natural law or federal law. Simply put, the drone assassination program operates completely outside of the framework of every body of law in existence, including military law.
How, then, does the USA continue to get away with these repugnant crimes?
There’s only one way. And that is the very same way that a global bully gets away with all of the military aggression and illicit attacks on other sovereign nations. The USA has come to embody, without any legitimacy whatsoever, the false precept of:
“Might makes right”.
What is quite evident from the incessant disrespect that US politicians, diplomats and statesmen demonstrate toward many foreign nations is that they know what a military superpower can get away with. Only because the USA commands such a large military presence around the world, is it able to act which such impunity. However, such blatant disregard for the human life in so many foreign countries will eventually come back to bite US.
Yemenis protest against US intervention in their country
What the US and its NATO allies fail to understand is that so much unprovoked violence is being watched by the entire world. Not only are those nations that are victimized by drone attacks angered by such territorial violations; their neighbors, trading partners, and other countries are sympathetic to their plight.
Eventually, the blowback will surely come. Usually that occurs at a time, in a place and in a way that is least expected. Quite similarly to the initial drone surprise attacks conducted by the US and company do violent events regularly take place throughout the USA. Any government which permits these kinds of offensive military strikes, whether on the giving or receiving end, is sure to fall hard when it does. Despite its perceived invincibility, the USA is no exception.
The victim nations are usually bribed and/or extorted into allowing drone attacks on their soil.
Rarely do you read such a report, but those nations which do not actively prevent such drones from entering their airspace are complicit in these crimes against their citizens. However, they are usually operating under extreme financial duress, excessive military influence, and/or relentless political pressure when they submit to the bribes and extortion demanded by the Western military powers.
Usually it is the case that such nations have already received ‘generous’ amounts of American largesse. Such financial aid comes with many strings attached and has enough pork baked in it to satisfy the local politicians. Whatever the aid may be earmarked for, you can be sure that it is syphoned up by US contractors, companies, surrogates and proxies. Rarely do the nation’s citizens ever directly benefit from this cynical form of ‘international aid’.
Pakistan is the perfect example of how their military has benefited from the annual US multi-billion dollar ‘stipend’ without any accountability. Because the Pakistani armed services exert so much influence in governmental affairs, they have given the CIA a green light to commit their drone atrocities without fear of retribution. Can this incestuous relationship become any more dysfunctional for either party? Because it takes place completely under the radar of public scrutiny, it continues to fester and produce fierce anti-American sentiments wherever drone attacks occur.
How does any of this extremely destructive and ill-conceived foreign policy help America? By creating more enemies? By making it more difficult than ever for Americans to travel abroad? By even turning our traditional friends against us?
Really, who is it that formulates such foolish and outrageous drone implementation plans? Is it ‘Defense’, State, or the White House? It doesn’t make much sense that any of these organs of US Government would make such self- destructive international policy, does it?
Drone strike that killed at least 15 in a wedding party in Yemen.
Therefore, it is now quite transparent that the US is run by a global shadow government which operates completely outside of the Constitution, or any other legal framework for that matter. By doing so, it has transformed the US Government into a patchwork of rogue institutions, where the rule of law is now practically nonexistent.
Hence, this covert and lawless entity continues to arrogate power unto itself which cannot be challenged. Who or what is there to confront on behalf of the American people? To whom does one demand and implore that such cruel extra-judicial killings by drones be stopped. The American people want these senseless murders to stop. They especially do no want them conducted in their name and using their tax dollars.
Michael Thomas
State of the Nation
December 25, 2013
Author’s Note:
A very serious question has been raised about the CIA drone policy of targeting wedding parties. Because weddings (and funerals) are well known to bring all elements of the society together under one tent, the US takes advantage of this fact of life.
Therefore, it appears that those who have formulated this policy know in advance that there will always be ‘collateral damage’ as they call it. In other words, the killing of innocents is an ‘unintended consequence’ of their implementation plan to assassinate alleged terrorists who have not been tried or convicted of anything.
Sounds like the real terrorists in this scenario are those pushing the buttons that trigger the drone missile attacks. Their supervisors up the chain of command, who gave the orders, are even more culpable in this terror-producing chain of events.
References:
No holiday for U.S. drones in Pakistan; 3 killed…
DRONES: The Rank Hypocrisy of Barack Obama
Five Afghan Children Among Ten Civilians Killed in NATO/US Drone Attack
Drone strike kills 15 ‘wedding party-goers’ in Yemen
Insight – In Yemen, al Qaeda gains sympathy amid U.S. drone strikes
Yemenis protest against US intervention in their country
Air strike kills 15 civilians in Yemen by mistake-officials
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