Anti-Drone Movement Grows: Ethics, Legality and Effectiveness of Drone Killings Doubted

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Anti-Drone Movement Grows: Ethics, Legality and Effectiveness of Drone Killings Doubted

Wednesday, 24 April 2013 11:22
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers , Truthout | News Analysis


Zeese and Flowers examine the US drone program, its security effectiveness, legality under US and international law, state of development, and position in US opinion.


We are in the midst of a month of actions against drones. Nearly 4,000 people have been killed in some 420 "targeted killing" operations since the first US drone strike was conducted under the Bush administration in October 2001. There is now a growing movement of people speaking out and standing up to protest the use of drones by the United States in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as at home in the United States. Human rights groups are questioning their legality; clergy are questioning their ethics and activists are protesting their use. More are questioning whether the use of drones is actually decreasing or increasing terrorism.

On our weekly program, Clearing the FOG, we spoke with two guests who are working to build the movement against drones. Noor Mir, a citizen of Pakistan and graduate of Vassar who works on drones with the anti-war organization Codepink in Washington, DC, described how people in Pakistan no longer go to funerals or weddings; children refuse to go to school and people avoid events where they will be in groups because of the fear of drone attacks. Judy Bello of the Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars points out that drones are used mostly in countries that we are not at war with, raising many legal and strategic questions.

Violence Begets Violence: There Is Another Way

In light of recent very public violent episodes, from the Boston Marathon bombing to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Americans now have a greater sense of what it must be like for people living in countries where the US attacks people with drones on a constant basis. Could you imagine experiencing mass killings involving innocent civilians every day? It is particularly alarming that US drones have murdered nearly 200 children.

Growing up in a war zone with constant fear of attack at any time and being forced to flee your home and community to live in a refugee camp or some other foreign place has dramatic psychological impacts. Civilians living in war zones suffer economically and experience shortages of basic necessities such as food, water and medicines. They also suffer from the threat or experience of being raped or beaten, losing a loved one and forced labor. Mental illness, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (or PTSD) are high in areas of conflict. Women, children, the elderly and the disabled are the most vulnerable. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/news/item/15959-anti-drone-movement-grows-ethics-legality-and-effectiveness-of-drone-killings-doubted