According to a recent column from Antiwar.com, the drone assassination program seems to be currently on autopilot. It seems that this may be the case since there's no current CIA director. The CIA is in charge of the drone program. The one that Trump picked as CIA Director, Mike Pompeo, hasn't been confirmed yet. But how can the CIA conduct drone strikes without a director? It seems that they are just doing it anyway.
Over the weekend, there were two drone strikes in Yemen. This recent drone strike killed three alleged Al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen. Though it's not confirmed, the US is suspected in the making the strikes. If it's from the US government, this would be the first drone strikes under President Trump. Of course, using drones to kill enemies isn't new. It was done frequently under the Obama administration.
While drones may save the lives of soldiers conducting a mission, the problem with them is that there have been civilians killed in these attacks. In other words, collateral damage. Because of this, people around the world, especially in the areas we use them, don't like the United States. If the United States wants to stop being hated around the world, it needs take a second look at the use of drones.
In Trump's inaugural speech, he said that he won't try to impose the will of America on other nations and it will be America First. If he believe this, then he needs to put the brakes on the drones.
The president must use caution before using these things. It cannot be the go-to device when dealing with a problem.
At this point, President Trump can't be blamed completely since he just took office less than a week ago. However, if the drone attacks continue, or continue as they have been, then the buck stops with him and he needs to be held accountable.
Killing human lives cannot be done on autopilot. What a drone sees in its sights is people. They could be civilians and innocent lives. And if there are terrorists or enemies, there might be non-combatants that surround these cowards. When the drones kills children and families, then hatred builds towards the US and creates more terrorists as a reaction to these killings. The cycle will continue until we really take the drone warfare off autopilot in our thinking.
This isn't a video game. We can't treat people as some expendable pixels. Taking a human life shouldn't be taken lightly. It should be used as the last resort if all other peaceful or restrained means have failed.
No comments:
Post a Comment