By: Mohammad Hassam Kang Detroit, MI
Reports of drone strikes in Pakistan have become common and often involve civilian deaths. The relatively new technology has given new spy capabilities to the often intrusive U.S military that is continuing to operate in countries without permission. In a recent session, Prime Minister Raza Gilani referred to the attacks as counter-productive in a public condemnation, but it seems that their sordid pleas have done little to save the lives of the over 60 children that have reportedly been killed by airborne drones since the three years Obama has taken office.
The obscured violence against innocents and rate of drone attack failure is blurred by recent media coverage that has painted Pakistan as a troubled democracy, riddled with brutal extremists, as well as a void of power.All this is culminating in the all too familiar cycle of regime change and seismic power seizures that has gripped the young nation since the partition. The infiltration of western democratic views and policies have also been in longtime dispute with the traditional segments of the nation, which support a more militarized social structure that offers protection, rather than decision-making on behalf of the people.
But the targeted killings perpetrated by U.S forces are leaving little doubt in the minds of many that the instability of Pakistan serves as a testament to failed and often aggressive U.S. action in the region. The most recent example is reports of an estimated 282 to 535 civilians that were obliterated by drones, including 50 to 75 killed, that consist of people that were rescuers who rushed to the scene of the strikes to help the injured. Others were mourners for the deceased at funerals. Again, the people were targeted cold heartedly by deadly U.S operations.
The report published by the London Bureau of Investigative Journalism reaffirms this fact. Chris Woods, a researcher that specializes on the rise of the often and illegal use of drones by the U.S., said in a recent interview, "contemporaneous reports in publications like New York Times, news agencies like Reuters, by CNN, that there were these strikes on rescuers, that there were reports that there had been an initial strike and then, some minutes later, as people had come forward to help and pull out the dead and injured, that drones had returned to the scene and had attacked rescuers." An unnamed counter-terrorism official dismissed Wood's report as aiding Al-Qaeda. In an online interview via YouTube and Google with President Obama, when asked how he felt about the connection of the government’s killing machines targeting civilians, the President lied to the public and said that no civilians had been killed in the "precision strikes", which he claimed were carried out strictly on members of Al-Qaeda and their affiliates. He claimed that everyone killed was on a list of active terrorists, however little evidence supports that any of the deceased were ever tried or suspected of terrorism.
President Obama further rebutted that drone strikes are less of a conspicuous violation against another country’s sovereignty as, let’s say, boots on the ground. With all due respect President, it seems that you are unaware of the rules of engagement. Not the ones laid out in an international treaty but the war that reflects in the eyes of a mother saying goodbye to her only son.
The obscured violence against innocents and rate of drone attack failure is blurred by recent media coverage that has painted Pakistan as a troubled democracy, riddled with brutal extremists, as well as a void of power.All this is culminating in the all too familiar cycle of regime change and seismic power seizures that has gripped the young nation since the partition. The infiltration of western democratic views and policies have also been in longtime dispute with the traditional segments of the nation, which support a more militarized social structure that offers protection, rather than decision-making on behalf of the people.
But the targeted killings perpetrated by U.S forces are leaving little doubt in the minds of many that the instability of Pakistan serves as a testament to failed and often aggressive U.S. action in the region. The most recent example is reports of an estimated 282 to 535 civilians that were obliterated by drones, including 50 to 75 killed, that consist of people that were rescuers who rushed to the scene of the strikes to help the injured. Others were mourners for the deceased at funerals. Again, the people were targeted cold heartedly by deadly U.S operations.
The report published by the London Bureau of Investigative Journalism reaffirms this fact. Chris Woods, a researcher that specializes on the rise of the often and illegal use of drones by the U.S., said in a recent interview, "contemporaneous reports in publications like New York Times, news agencies like Reuters, by CNN, that there were these strikes on rescuers, that there were reports that there had been an initial strike and then, some minutes later, as people had come forward to help and pull out the dead and injured, that drones had returned to the scene and had attacked rescuers." An unnamed counter-terrorism official dismissed Wood's report as aiding Al-Qaeda. In an online interview via YouTube and Google with President Obama, when asked how he felt about the connection of the government’s killing machines targeting civilians, the President lied to the public and said that no civilians had been killed in the "precision strikes", which he claimed were carried out strictly on members of Al-Qaeda and their affiliates. He claimed that everyone killed was on a list of active terrorists, however little evidence supports that any of the deceased were ever tried or suspected of terrorism.
President Obama further rebutted that drone strikes are less of a conspicuous violation against another country’s sovereignty as, let’s say, boots on the ground. With all due respect President, it seems that you are unaware of the rules of engagement. Not the ones laid out in an international treaty but the war that reflects in the eyes of a mother saying goodbye to her only son.
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