How to Slaughter Civilians and be Home in time for Dinner
by finch Wednesday, Dec 30 2009, 10:59pm
international / injustice/law / opinion/analysis

Most would not remember Karl Rove’s weapon of choice in America’s failing wars of occupation; Rove publicly stated that UAVs or Drones, as they are more commonly known, would be the ‘decisive’ weapon in South Asia! As it turns out, Drones are also the favourite weapon of Puppet-in-Chief, Barack Obaa’ma -- is anyone surprised?’

Captain Drone -- artwork, Mr Fish

Dispelling all notions that he is the peoples’ President, Obama has deployed three times more Drones in illegal attacks on civilians than the previous Cheney/Bush administration. Karl and Barack, it seems, have more in common than either would care to publicly admit. However, regardless of the REAL forces that rule the USA the REALITY is that DRONES kill far more civilians than combatants -- hardly surprising when weapon systems are remotely controlled and deployed from 30,000 feet!

America’s love of gimmicks and media presentations allowed an unwise military to release footage of a Drone’s-eye view of attacks until some smart military lawyer realised the footage could be used in war crimes trials!

Nonetheless, exuberant CIA and Pentagon morons were slow to get the point as most people have seen images of ant-like humans scurrying for cover as Drone-launched hellfire missiles blew people and buildings to smithereens. Imbeciles in the military and CIA thought this was a great propaganda stunt at the time until it became evident Drones killed 10 times more civilians than combatants! Wedding parties were the favourite target in Afghanistan – only GROUND FOOTAGE of innocent men, women and children lying dead and dismembered curtailed the use of Drone footage in the popular media. And that is my point, GROUND footage!

You SEE, the view from thirty thousand feet cannot precisely determine targets. Drones at (safe) high altitudes are incapable of isolating a target unless that target is conveniently ISOLATED and identified by other means. Postmodern 'invisible' warfare demanded the use of ground spotters who proved to be notoriously counter-productive. It has been revealed that numerous personal vendettas have been carried out by local tribesmen ground spotters targeting non-military targets instead of combatants, but that’s the nature of today’s CRIMINALLY IMPRECISE Drone warfare! The solution: America knowingly engages in a 20-1 kill ratio of innocent civilians for every combatant – a WAR CRIME in any Lawyer’s book!

Interestingly, CIA and Pentagon personnel that ‘fly’ Drone missions, sometimes thousands of miles from the blood drenched front, are obliged to obtain clearance or approval from superiors prior to launching missile strikes, it seems few have the stomach required for killing civilians these days; planning long careers without the ‘inconvenience’ of facing indictments for war crimes may also have a little bearing on why approval rests with only a few!

The COSTS and consequences to the USA of indiscriminate warfare are ENORMOUS not the least of which is losing popular SUPPORT on the local and home fronts. We shouldn’t forget that LEGAL support is lost whenever civilians are knowingly targeted. [The need to transfer attack responsibility (clearance) to hardcore sociopaths or maladjusts in the ‘agency’ or military should now be clear!]

It is widely known that Drones have the lowest known enemy kill ratio of any weapon deployed in today’s wars, but that little FACT doesn’t reduce or eliminate their use; in a typical Orwellian inversion, Obama has tripled the use of Drones in today’s conflict zones – and you wonder why entire populations mobilise against invaders that indiscriminately kill innocent civilians!

O, I almost forgot; personnel controlling Drones may not see or smell the blood and guts as graphically as a direct confrontation, but at least they get home in time for dinner each day -- chronic indigestion notwithstanding!

You have lost already, America; you’re just too stupid to realise!