"US drone raids in Yemen 'kill hundreds'"

It won't stop as long as we think we're the world police.

What's amazing is how many people will lament this and still cast a vote for someone who will continue this sort of foreign policy.

President Barack Obama has authorised all but one of the estimated 44 drone strikes by the US in the troubled Arab state since 2002 and has overseen a rapid increase in attacks since last May with 26 incidents recorded.

Research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism at City University has found that as many as 516 people have been killed in the attacks - mostly suspected members of al-Qaeda's local ally al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Up to 104 were civilians.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... alate.html

catefrances wrote:

pjl44 wrote:

What's amazing is how many people will lament this and still cast a vote for someone who will continue this sort of foreign policy.

what if they held an election and nobody came......?

the person with the largest family that was eligible to vote would win

A question regardig using Drones as weapons:
Are the pilots of the Drones considered 'combatants'? You know, like an F-15 jockey is a combat fighter pilot and subject to the rules of engagement n the battlefield. Are the pilots in Nevada the same as the F-15 pilot in Rihad?
If so, then if enemy agents are sent her to kill him, just like they'd try to kill the F-15 pilot at his air base, and they kill him in an Olive Garden or in his residence... is that an act of war or an act of homocide?
...
Maybe we need to consider these things BEFORE we delpoy remote controlled weapons.

peacefrompaul wrote:

My dad's buddy from the Air Force has a son that flies a drone from a desk in Montana. That is an interesting question to ponder. I would call it an act of retaliation. Isn't it creepy to think that you could be sitting in bed having a cigarette and guide an aircraft and a missile to another's death?

...
These are the things we need to consider.
A pilot stationed on an aircraft carrier that flies sorties into battlefield airspace is a combatant. He is in harm's way, whether he is in the air or on the carrier. The same goes to the pilot on the air field... even if the operational air field is in Germany or Saudi Arabia.
Does the same apply to Montana? Is it an act of war if an enemy agent is sent to the air base to take out a pilot? Since the drone operators are engaged in the battlefield... from Montana... isn't Montana considered part of the battlefield? What difference is it if an enemy agent kills the pilot in his barracks on the base... or in his bedroom in Montana?
We don't have to worry so much about the Taliban or al Qaeda because neither can ante up drone technology. But, the stakes go higher when we consider the future possibilities of a military conflict with a country like Russia or China who might acquire the same drone capabilities.
Do moral issues come into play with attack drones?

Jason P wrote:

Obama’s ‘secret kill list’ shows president is final word on terrorist killing missions

When it comes to the "secret kill list"—a regularly updated chart showing the world's most wanted terrorists—President Barack Obama is the "final moral calculation" in the kill or capture debate, according to the third in a series of New York Times articles assessing his record.

And despite his liberal background, Obama has taken an aggressive approach to counterterrorism.

The Times said it interviewed three dozen current and former advisers to Obama, who described his "evolution since taking on the role, without precedent in presidential history, of personally overseeing the shadow war with Al Qaeda"

.....

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-secret-kill-list-shows-president-final-word-151204051.html

i have a secret kill list too.. wonder if any of obamas names overlap with mine. :think:

peacefrompaul wrote:

catefrances wrote:

Jason P wrote:

Obama’s ‘secret kill list’ shows president is final word on terrorist killing missions

When it comes to the "secret kill list"—a regularly updated chart showing the world's most wanted terrorists—President Barack Obama is the "final moral calculation" in the kill or capture debate, according to the third in a series of New York Times articles assessing his record.

And despite his liberal background, Obama has taken an aggressive approach to counterterrorism.

The Times said it interviewed three dozen current and former advisers to Obama, who described his "evolution since taking on the role, without precedent in presidential history, of personally overseeing the shadow war with Al Qaeda"

.....

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-secret-kill-list-shows-president-final-word-151204051.html

i have a secret kill list too.. wonder if any of obamas names overlap with mine. :think:

Chad from Nickelback, right? :-P I kid!

i cant kill canadians... not even the ones that need killing.

pjl44 wrote:

What's amazing is how many people will lament this and still cast a vote for someone who will continue this sort of foreign policy.

according to glenn greenwald any person in a certain demographic killed by a drone is automatically labeled a 'militant'

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/5/30/g ... _kill_list