- Kenneth Bergman
- Ashland, OR
These drone strikes, with their inevitable "collatoral damage," are acts of war against countries with which we are supposedly not at war. And the fact that decisions to use drones are made by the President and a few others in the Executive Branch and the Military, decisions that are cloaked in secrecy, is alarming. As far as I can tell, Obama is following the same clandestine path that former president Bush laid out during his term of office.
Even more alarming is the thought that other countries, including some who are hostile, may soon acquire the technology to build and launch drones of their own. Is that the future: drone attacks being launched between countries in lieu of actual combat? It could be a very scary future, especially if drone attacks are deployed to wreak widespread death and destruction rather than targeting individuals. Remember the V-2 "buzz bombs" of WWII?
I suspect that the estimate of 3000 killed in drone attacks is low, and that there have been many more innocent victims who just happened to be "in the way." There's little justification for using these lethal devices, and they are certain to make many enemies in those regions where they are used, whatever our intentions.
Congress and the American public certainly deserve to know more about drones and how decisions to use them are made, and Americans opposed to their secretive and unregulated use need to speak up and make their opposition known.
Even more alarming is the thought that other countries, including some who are hostile, may soon acquire the technology to build and launch drones of their own. Is that the future: drone attacks being launched between countries in lieu of actual combat? It could be a very scary future, especially if drone attacks are deployed to wreak widespread death and destruction rather than targeting individuals. Remember the V-2 "buzz bombs" of WWII?
I suspect that the estimate of 3000 killed in drone attacks is low, and that there have been many more innocent victims who just happened to be "in the way." There's little justification for using these lethal devices, and they are certain to make many enemies in those regions where they are used, whatever our intentions.
Congress and the American public certainly deserve to know more about drones and how decisions to use them are made, and Americans opposed to their secretive and unregulated use need to speak up and make their opposition known.
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