Eugene Robinson: Morally Questionable Go-To Weapon

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from truthdig:


Morally Questionable Go-To Weapon

Posted on Dec 2, 2013
By Eugene Robinson


U.S. drone attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries may be militarily effective, but they are killing innocent civilians in a way that is obscene and immoral. I’m afraid that ignoring this ugly fact makes Americans complicit in murder.

It is understandable why President Obama has made drone attacks his go-to weapon in the fight against terrorists and the Taliban. Armed, pilotless aircraft allow the CIA and the military to target individuals in enemy strongholds without putting U.S. lives at risk. But efficacy is not legitimacy, and I don’t see how drone strikes can be considered a wholly legitimate way to wage war.

This is an unpopular view in Washington—especially at the White House, where Obama and his aides have done much to erase the stain on the nation’s honor left by the excesses of George W. Bush’s Global War on Terrorism. It is to his great credit that Obama ended torture, shut down the CIA’s secret overseas prisons and made a good-faith effort to close the detention center at Guantanamo.

But Obama has greatly expanded the use of drones, and his version of the terror war looks a lot like a campaign of assassination. ..............................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/morally_questionable_go-to_weapon_20131202