The Dangerous Seduction of Drones

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http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Dangerous-Seduction-of-by-Medea-Benjamin-Attack_Drone-Contractors_Drone-Wars_Pakistan-140213-686.html



After 10 years of this remote-control killing, the Obama administration should seek effective solutions that adhere to international law.

The Dangerous Seduction of Drones
By Medea Benjamin
OpEdNews Op Eds 2/13/2014 at 19:10:22

Senior Obama administration officials say our government is sharply scaling back its drone strikes in Pakistan. That's a step in the right direction. It would be even better if the entire U.S. program of targeted killings in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia were scrapped.

By embracing drones as a primary foreign policy tool, President Barack Obama has taken on the role of prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner.

Without declaring a war there, U.S. forces have hit Pakistan with more than 350 drone strikes since 2004. These U.S.-engineered operations have left a death toll of somewhere between 2,500 and 3,500 people, including almost 200 children.

Despite being billed as a weapon of precision, only 2 percent of those killed in these drone strikes have been high-level Taliban or al-Qaeda operatives. Most have been either innocent people or low-level militants.