Fighting terror with a joystick won’t help

[unhappycamper]

http://www.arabnews.com/news/490791

Fighting terror with a joystick won’t help
AYLIN KOCAMAN
Published — Wednesday 11 December 2013

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Ever since drones, which were developed for intelligence gathering purposes, turned into weapons of war furnished with missiles, they have turned into nightmares for people in areas of conflict such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Yemen. “Many people have been psychologically damaged,” says one young Pakistani. “We are terrified of every low-flying plane. Many people are receiving psychological treatment for that reason alone.”

Top-secret documents show that in one year alone, almost half of those killed were simply listed as “unknown extremists”. Isn’t that easy? There is no need even to know the “target.”

The United States may perhaps be trying to use drones to reduce military spending following former President Bush, and to carry out its policy of stepping back from the Middle East. It is true that spending has gone down, but the US has not been able to pull itself out of the region. These attacks are proving to be counterproductive as anti-US sentiments are on the rise and children grow up with a desire for revenge. It is not surprising that, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center poll, 74 percent of Pakistanis regard America as an enemy. Can drones — which do not distinguish the guilty from the innocent and the terrorist from the hapless bystander — really represent a solution for the US? Will terrorism be eliminated this way? The US is mistaken; drone attacks cannot eliminate terror. These attacks will only increase extremism. Washington must not forget that a great many people spread terror out of ignorance. There is no point in condemning, cursing, imprisoning or using drones to kill someone who thinks, out of ignorance, that by killing he is waging a “holy war.”

The powers that be should try to understand the factors leading to radicalization of people. The only way to fight terrorism is the introduction of the pristine teachings of Islam, through education; in other words, not through drones.