Since 2001, unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have been used by the military and CIA for the targeted killing of individuals around the world accused of being “terrorists” or “militants.” These extrajudicial assassinations have taken place in six countries, including Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, where the U.S. isn’t officially at war. Between 2004 and 2012, the CIA has conducted over 330 drone attacks in Pakistan alone, killing approximately 3,000 people, including 175 children. Drone attacks deny those targeted a fair trial and amount to illegal, summary executions, violating U.S. and international law. Targets are chosen from a “kill list” compiled by the CIA and approved by the President in secret meetings with no transparency or oversight of any kind. Due process is completely absent. As Medea Benjamin writes in her book, Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, “The US government need not be formally at war with any country in which it carries out these killings, nor need it present any evidence—in a civilian trial, a military tribunal or the court of public opinion—that the target has committed a crime.” The CIA and President thus become judge, juror and executioner. Drone attacks kill non-combatants, including women and children. Many non-targeted individuals are killed with every successfully killed target, and while the Obama Administration claims the vast majority of these people are militants, administration officials admitted in May, 2012 that they use the CIA’s definition of a “militant,” which is simply “any military-age male in a strike zone.”
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 09:33:55 +0000