Drone attacks condemned

[The Northerner]

Now Danish MPs have joined the rising chorus of voices in the Western world which question the use of drone aeroplanes to launch missile attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The foreign policy spokesperson of the Radikale party, Rasmus Helveg Petersen, told a Danish newspaper that US President Barack Obama’s actions mirrored those of the militants he professed to be fighting. His remarks came after Soren Pind, of the opposition Venstre party, likened the attacks to assassination. Representatives of the Enhedlisten party said they would raise the issue in parliament’s foreign policy committee.

The issue has not just come alive once again because of the reports that President Obama personally approved 261 strikes in Pakistan, or because American citizens like Anwar Awlaki and his son were killed by a drone strike, but also because the attacks were proving ineffective. This has been the case because the drone strikes were also killing civilians, proving ineffectual at taking out terrorists while keeping their numbers essentially stable by providing fertile ground for breeding new recruits. This is despite the Administration sticking by these attacks, with Defence Secretary Leon Panetta describing them as a ‘weapon of choice.’

Pakistan, one of the countries affected, has acted in direct contradiction, with the government providing support to President Obama by having the cabinet approve an MoU on the restoration of Nato supply lines, even though stoppage of drone strikes was one of the conditions of restoration made by the parliamentary review of the subject. This step was not a reaction to US or even Danish concern on the subject, but the government should have considered how its actions would rebound on its own citizens, whose deaths at the hands of US drone attacks reflect a violation of Pakistani sovereignty. This is apart from the fact of, and indeed predates, the parliamentary review recommendations which have been so cavalierly ignored in the MoU that has been approved.

Danish MPs have not so far considered the effect of having drone attacks conducted by a Nato ally, but they should do so, just as Pakistani policymakers need to realise that the drone strikes send a signal of complicity to the rest of the world, especially with the cabinet approval of the Nato supplies. While President Obama may wish to appear a strong leader in this election year, he should also realise that by doing so at the cost of innocent lives, will only be counterproductive for the USA in the long run.

Source: http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/editorials/27-Jul-2012/drone-attacks-condemned

[NashvilleLefty]

1. Drone attacks are a GOOD thing!

Drones make us much more effective. They actually cut down on "collateral damage". They allow us to do more with putting fewer of our people in harm's way.

The use of drones has so many positives - that's why people don't like them. Drones are TOO effective.