Nobody wins--Everybody Loses Except Those Who Sell the Weapons

[BG42EDGE]

Obama's gay marriage declaration tops the news, but his Predator Drone attacks SHOULD be headlined. Eleven DEAD in Yemen this week. The result of executing people without reliable evidence of their crime or even identity is that American citizens are increasingly in danger from retaliation as hatred of America grows. Nobody wins in this stupid, immoral, lose-lose policy. These are war crimes and the brothers and sisters of the dead will respond by killing Americans. http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002678389

[jdm61]

I think that the new government of Yemen might classify this as a "win".

Obama's gay marriage declaration tops the news, but his Predator Drone attacks SHOULD be headlined. Eleven DEAD in Yemen this week. The result of executing people without reliable evidence of their crime or even identity is that American citizens are increasingly in danger from retaliation as hatred of America grows. Nobody wins in this stupid, immoral, lose-lose policy. These are war crimes and the brothers and sisters of the dead will respond by killing Americans. http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002678389

[Trent Rock]

I think the correct term is collateral damage??
Do the bad guys kill more soldiers or civilians?
I'd like to see that pie graph....

[BG42EDGE]

I think the correct term is collateral damage??

No.....executing people without due process and failing to even identify those you kill......that's a war crime.

Do the bad guys kill more soldiers or civilians?

The bad guys are not even getting identity confirmation......they're just killing groups of people on the logic that some might be threats.

[BG42EDGE]

I think that the new government of Yemen might classify this as a "win".

Why? They must not be worried about getting re-elected.

[Codger_64]

Obama's gay marriage declaration tops the news, but his Predator Drone attacks SHOULD be headlined. Eleven DEAD in Yemen this week. The result of executing people without reliable evidence of their crime or even identity is that American citizens are increasingly in danger from retaliation as hatred of America grows. Nobody wins in this stupid, immoral, lose-lose policy. These are war crimes and the brothers and sisters of the dead will respond by killing Americans. http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002678389

You know this how? You do have a source for such an accusatory statement, right?

[Trent Rock]

No.....executing people without due process and failing to even identify those you kill......that's a war crime.

So if a US soldier is getting shot at..... He asks for his ID card??

[BG42EDGE]

Read the link.....it's about the cowardly Predator Drone attacks on civilian targets that MIGHT contain people who MIGHT be the enemy.

[Codger_64]

Read the link.....it's about the cowardly Predator Drone attacks on civilian targets that MIGHT contain people who MIGHT be the enemy.

Yeah, I read it. And then I looked at other sources not alligned with Aljazera.

Yemen: U.S. drone strikes kill 11 al Qaeda militants
(AP Graphics)

(AP) SANAA, Yemen - Two suspected U.S. drone strikes killed 11 al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen on Saturday, Yemeni military officials said.


The first attack took place near the border of Marib and Shabwa provinces southeast of the capital, Sanaa, killing six militants, including one Egyptian national, the officials said. The second strike hit two cars in Marib, killing five al Qaeda-linked fighters.


Over the past year, parts of Marib, Shabwa and other southern provinces have fallen under the control of al Qaeda militants who have capitalized on the turmoil in Yemen that stems from the popular uprising that toppled longtime leader Ali Abdullah Saleh.


There was no immediate word from the U.S. on whether Washington was behind Saturday's attacks. In the past two weeks, suspected U.S. airstrikes have killed at least three senior al Qaeda operatives in southern Yemen.


Yemeni officials have reported more frequent U.S. drone strikes since Yemen's new president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, took power in February after Saleh stepped down. Hadi has since ramped up the fight against al Qaeda militants.


The Pentagon recently sent American military trainers to Yemen, and Washington has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to assist the impoverished Arab nation fight al Qaeda and other extremist groups in the country.


The U.S. says al Qaeda's Yemeni branch, known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is one of the group's most dangerous offshoots.


Yemen was the launching pad for two foiled al Qaeda attacks on U.S. territory: the Christmas 2009 attempt to down an American airliner over Detroit with an underwear bomb and the sending of printer cartridges packed with explosives to Chicago-area synagogues in 2010.


On Monday, The Associated Press disclosed that the CIA thwarted yet another plot by AQAP to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb which could have been undetectable by conventional airport scanners.


Separately, Yemeni military officials said an assault by government troops Saturday on al Qaeda forces around the southern city of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, left a general, a soldier and six militants dead.


The attack was part of the Yemeni military's broader campaign against al Qaeda-linked fighters in the south. Residents say the military used warplanes and artillery to pound areas west and north of Zinjibar.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-...eda-militants/

From what I am seeing, your favorite President specificly condoned and authorized these drone strikes.

[jdm61]

Drones are mechanical devices. As such, they cannot be cowardly.

Read the link.....it's about the cowardly Predator Drone attacks on civilian targets that MIGHT contain people who MIGHT be the enemy.

[Codger_64]

What about the Commander who authorized the ROE for the drones?

[BG42EDGE]

Drones are mechanical devices. As such, they cannot be cowardly.

Of course. It is the attacks that are cowardly, not the weapons.

[Codger_64]

Of course. It is the attacks that are cowardly, not the weapons.

But... the idea was that of President O'bama! Are you saying he is a coward?

[BG42EDGE]

There was no immediate word from the U.S. on whether Washington was behind Saturday's attacks.

Of course. They are ashamed of their crimes and their cowardice.

[Triton]

But... the idea was that of President O'bama! Are you saying he is a coward?

Oh comen now Codger this is obviously Bush's fault. If only he would quit ordering those cowardly drones into action... I wonder if our liberal friend would be happier if we had a few of the heroic suicide bombers on our side bombing these guys instead.

[Codger_64]

White House approves broader Yemen drone campaign

The United States has begun launching drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen under new authority approved by President Obama that allows the CIA and the military to fire even when the identity of those who could be killed is not known, U.S. officials said.

The policy shift marks a significant expansion of the clandestine drone war against an al-Qaeda affiliate that has seized large *pieces of territory in Yemen and is linked to a series of terrorist plots against the United States.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...6hT_story.html

I don't see Bush mentioned. Perhaps he is sitting at a controller station in Dreamland jockying a joystick and pushing buttons.

[jdm61]

Bush invented cowardly attacks, so it must be his fault.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...6hT_story.html

I don't see Bush mentioned. Perhaps he is sitting at a controller station in Dreamland jockying a joystick and pushing buttons.

[MountainBilly]

No.....executing people without due process and failing to even identify those you kill......that's a war crime.

The bad guys are not even getting identity confirmation......they're just killing groups of people on the logic that some might be threats.

You know very little about war. Civilians are always killed and many killed are never ID'd. Whether the policy is good or bad killing people that are trying to kill us and our allies has probably never had such a low level of collateral damage in the history of warfare and the talk of war crimes is silly.

[Triton]

You know very little about war. Civilians are always killed and many killed are never ID'd. Whether the policy is good or bad killing people that are trying to kill us and our allies has probably never had such a low level of collateral damage in the history of warfare and the talk of war crimes is silly.

Dresden comes to mind, as do Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Or the Blitz on London or the Seige at Vicksburg or... in other words, yes you are absolutely right. Our enemy does his best to maximize civilian casualties and we are told by some that he is just fighting for his freedom. We do our best to minimize civilian casualties and the same folks tell us that we are war criminals. Go figure.

[Esav Benyamin]

"I say bomb the hell out of them. If there's collateral damage, so be it. They certainly found our civilians to be expendable."
-- Zell Miller of Georgia, in a speech on the Senate floor shortly after attacks against the US on September 11, 2001.