Majority of Americans approve drone strikes — RT

(...) Pew Research found that in 17 out of 20 countries surveyed, more than half disapprove of the strikes, while 62 percent of Americans support the targeted-killing initiative.

In Greece, 90 percent of those surveyed condemn America’s drone strikes, followed closely by Egypt’s 89 percent.

Drone strikes are also condemned in Jordan (85 percent), Turkey (81 percent), Spain (76 percent), Brazil (76 percent) and Japan (75 percent). (...)

Are US drones terrorising civilians? - Inside Story Americas - Al Jazeera English

Pakistan Drone Study Finds 'Damaging And Counterproductive' Consequences From U.S. Policy

ACLU takes CIA to court as agency denies existence of drone programme | World news | guardian.co.uk
Despite references by president and defence secretary, CIA has refused FOIA request on grounds it cannot confirm drone use

 miamizsun wrote: 
If you believe in extending human rights, does that include healthcare? Do you believe that everyone is entitled to a certain level of life, such as having food and shelter?

 hippiechick wrote: 
in every evolution there winners and losers

the act of extending human rights to everyone, everywhere, equally will cause discomfort to those that are invested in the political war machine

i say tough sh*t to those parasites who have vested interests in militarization/death

they're very exposed now (the fascistic power monopoly of politics and corps)

all we have to do is peacefully act on principle

it is possible to end the wars

regards
 

"Evil white men" and guilt assignments aside, the arguments are moot. The death of the old way is at hand, justification in tow.
The violence will escalate to that end. It is incumbent upon us.

 black321 wrote: 
No, nor should it be. Perhaps a more refined set of directives are called for...
 

 sirdroseph wrote: 
I think making use of that is probably a lot more difficult than you imagine.  Even if the thing were captured intact (which is wasn't) it would be a long time before they could not only figure out how to use it but to create the infrastructure required to do so.

Such discussions are ultimately academic, tho.  What is needed is a sea change in policies, attitudes and an end to Pax Americana.

 miamizsun wrote: 
Our human rights record has never been anything to brag about, we have been killing others since the white man landed here

 miamizsun wrote: 

Yes, but our country was founded on rivers of blood. Are we really any worse now than we have ever been?

what does this say about us as a country?

as individuals?

what excuses do we tell ourselves and others?

openly tolerating and funding these unnecessary and horrific murders?

how do we explain this to our children?

our human rights record is stained forever

just awful 

 oldslabsides wrote: 

Yes, but let's just say the drones will bring it all home to us.  Iran captured a sophisticated drone a couple of months ago, won't be long now.

 oldviolin wrote: 
Would a policy of dealing death in person mean there were any less blood on his hands?  American Imperialism will be our undoing, not the technical instruments it uses.

 oldviolin wrote: 
right...it's only a matter of time before the "enemy" gets hold of the technology.  But can you stop the march of technology?

All apologetics aside, this policy of dealing death by remote control is helping to pave the way for our undoing. The President and his advisers have chosen to continue and even escalate the program with any and all justification, and the blood is on his hands. It is a disgrace. 

This is one policy of Obama's that I just can't get over. 

The Laws Obama is Breaking in His Relentless Drone War

Santa's Sleigh... Or Drones Overhead?
by Ed Kinane

Like the School of the Americas, the weaponized drone perpetrates terrorism. As Predator drones come to Ft. Benning, some SOA Watch activists are applying our SOAW experience to “outing” the Predator and Reaper drones already in our midst.

Syracuse’s Hancock Air National Guard Base has become one of the national hubs for piloting — via computer screen and satellite — the Reaper over Afghanistan. For three years upstate New York activists have been trying to educate our public and Hancock personnel about the war crimes being committed by these robotic killers.

The Reaper, a higher-tech offspring of the Predator, is the Pentagon’s and the CIA’s instrument for aerial surveillance and assassination in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other nations “over there.” Now with those US/NATO wars somewhat winding down, the Reaper – and a slew of its robotic cousins — are coming home to roost in the Western Hemisphere. Also driving this trend are the US and Israeli drone manufacturers eager to expand their markets.

The SOA/WHINSEC currently offers a “Masters Training” course familiarizing its students with drones. For several years US drones have been flying deep into Mexico, and now crisscross the Caribbean. Drones are penetrating South American airspaces. They are used for drug-interdiction, monitoring borders and hounding undocumented Latinos trying to enter the US. And within the US there’s strong pressure to use the drone for domestic surveillance and crowd control.

Colombia drones take on anti-insurgency functions. In 2009 Hugo Chavez claimed that a Colombian drone invaded Venezuelan air space. The Colombian government denied the charge, responding that Venezuelans must have been seeing “Santa’s sleigh.”  

So far there seems to be little evidence that the drones now roaming Latin America are weaponized. But some – like Israel’s  Hermes 900 — can readily be adapted for lethal payloads (including 500-pound bombs and Hellfire missiles). The so-called “war on drugs” segues into – and serves as cover for — war on “insurgents” or on perceived enemies of the state and of the empire. Missions drift.

While the US Congress regulates the export of drones, the Israelis are selling their drones all over the place, including to Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico. Reminds me of back in the eighties when Congress cut out military aid to Guatemala’s genocidal regime, the Israelis – with the Pentagon’s wink and a nod — provided such aid. Assisted by Israel (and, in the case of Venezuela, Iran), several Latin American nations are already developing their own drones. (...)