Tonight I'll take a look into a widely-known yet often under-reported facet of American involvement in the Middle Eastern conflict over the past decade - Drone Strikes.
When the average American hears the word Predator Drone, a few key ideas are brought to mind. First and foremost comes the belief that unmanned drones are a relatively cheap, effective means of doing a risky job once undertaken by manned aircraft or foot soldiers. Second may be the idea that American drone strikes are performing a valuable service for the global community by ridding the world of terrorists from several thousand feet in the air. What Predator Drones and Drone strikes do not usually bring to mind however is this phrase: Civilian Casualties.
According to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism's 'Naming the Dead Project', over 400 CIA drone strikes have taken place over the past decade, killing an estimated 2400 to around 3800 people in the tribal regions of northern Pakistan. The Bureau claims that 704 of those killed have been identified by name and either listed as a potential enemy combatant or a civilian. About one-fifth of those 704 names have been identified as civilians, with a significant portion of that number including women and children. To ask a rather disturbing question, if only 704 names out of almost 4000 have been identified, who were the other 3300?
On his new show on HBO, Last Week Tonight, John Oliver talks a little bit about the suspicion and secrecy surrounding policy regarding drone strikes.
While Oliver brings up several disturbingly subversive aspects of the US government's policy towards Drone Strikes, there is still more that he does not discuss. Not only have rules been set forth to stem the flow of civilian deaths from these air strikes, but the Obama administration has declared that these rules will not matter in the government's fight against ISIS. In essence the US military has taken off its own leash in relation to aerial drone strikes; a leash which, for the most part, has been ineffective in the first place.
So why aren't we hearing more about this? Drone strikes under the Obama administration have reached an all time high, as has their approval rating, but honestly, much like Mr. Oliver's research team, I found it fairly difficult to get a real grasp on the total number of drone strike deaths in the middle east over the past decade. Furthermore, the criteria for conducting drone strikes seems to be getting more and more convoluted as time goes on.
What do you guys think? Are the nature of these attacks warranted? Is reform necessary or even possible at this point? It would seem to me that this is just another extension of the military authority of the United States in its never-ending quest for the power to police the entire world, even if it means the lives and peace of mind of (literally) countless civilians.
No comments:
Post a Comment