So...are we DONE with the drone killings now?

[Ken Burch]

Everybody that really matters in AQ is gone. The Taliban is offering seriously to negotiate and compromise. Isn't it time to give the black ops shit a rest already?

[MADem]

1. Doubtful. nt

[Cid_B]

2. Answers in order...

No, No, I've got a bridge to sell you, Hell no...

[tblue]

3. No.

They're very popular and they give his poll numbers a boost.

[Poll_Blind]

4. But as long as there are three people in AQ, there will ALWAYS be a No. 2 man we need to keep...

..fighting to kill! The No. 1 guy in Al Quaeda since bin Laden was killed will forever-more be Emmanuel Goldstein. From now on, it's about fighting a never-ending stream of No. 2's!

PB

[Upton]

5. No...

Obama has actually expanded the drone program...there's no end in sight.

[NYC_SKP]

6. We'll be done with drones only when we move to the next level of death technology...

It might be tiny autonomous flying killing machines...



You didn't hear that from me...

[Ken Burch]

10. Looks like they finally weaponized the "killer bees".

n/t.

[Fool Count]

7. Done? With more than a year to go on Obama's re-election campaign?

There will be many more. You can take it to the bank.

[DCBob]

8. Is AQ that decimated?

If so then President Obama deserves some serious kudos for accomplishing that.

[Ken Burch]

11. And may we assume that you'll cheerlead for the whole thing?

After all, despite that little symbol in your posts, you've clearly never actually been interested in peace...until, of course, the U.S. finally achieves world domination.

Get measured for your toga yet?

[DCBob]

13. The President deserves some credit for focusing on actual terrorists..

rather than fighting some idiot mis-guided war in Iraq.

[Ken Burch]

14. You're assuming the drones only hit the guilty.

There's a lot of people who did nothing who were hit by them as well.

And it's time to admit that this is over already.

There's not really any reason left to keep fighting this. We can't KILL every bad guy.

[DCBob]

21. I dont assume anything. The errant drone strikes are extremely troubling.

Any innocents killed are unacceptable. They should not launch any attack unless they are totally sure they have a real terrorist in their sites.

[Ken Burch]

23. That isn't the way it goes, however.

The question you have to ask is this:

Is the liklihood of hitting more and more innocents, deaths which could well drive people in the families who would otherwise never have harmed anyone anywhere to BECOME what you call terrorists, worth the cheap thrill of announcing that another "bad guy" has bit the dust?

And are poll ratings worth human life? And is there any "this goes too far" point with you?

[DCBob]

26. I am sure there are no "cheap thrills" in killing terrorists.

its just an ugly necessary part of being Commander in Chief.

[Ken Burch]

27. And the handy, dandy polling bounces have NOTHING to do with it?

And you trust them to know EXACTLY when to stop.

[sabrina 1]

40. We are out of Iraq? Last I read there are more contractors, I mean

mercenaries there than regular army and looks like they'll have to stay to protect all of our bases and the biggest embassy in the world. But they will be called 'security'. Blackwater is in the area also, in fact they are operating the drone program in Pakistan, our secret war that we don't talk about. Read Jeremy Scahill's detailed report on that war. And Yemen we are now told is also 'the battlefield', not to mention poor Somalia where we were also dropping bombs from time to time.

I've come to the conclusion that this is now nothing more than a huge Arms Show in order to sell more arms. It's big business. Drones need to be tested somewhere, so why not on more Muslims and their families? Pakistani people are suing the US over the slaughter of their innocent family members. But nothing stops us. We keep on killing. All for our 'national security'.



There must be a drone brochure somewhere. I wonder who is making money from them? I guess its enough money not to let the deaths of a few Muslim children worry anyone on a regular basis. Our wise leaders don't bother their beautiful minds with dead Muslim children. But how else can you demonstrate a drone's effectiveness?

Iraqis tried to join the Arab Spring, they even had a website. They were peaceful, thinking they were in a democracy. They made a list of demands which included asking that all foreign forces AND their military bases be removed from their country. They want jobs, but their jobs are going to foreigners.

There were poets and teachers, professors, doctors and construction workers. They went out on the first day and their 'democratic government' sent out the army, the one we have been perpetually training, and shot dead 29 of them. They rounded up hundreds more and threw them in jail where they will most likely be tortured.

But they did not give up yet. Al Sadr has warned that if the US does not leave he will start a revolt. When the US was asked to comment on the murder of those peaceful protesters, only one comment was made by a US diplomat who assured the world that their puppet government doesn't do this very often. The US did not cover Iraq's Arab Spring.

It's still a misguided, although there are better words to describe what is going on in Iraq, war. As the other Arab nations rose up against our allies, their dictatorships, they made it clear they did not want a 'US style democracy, like Iraq'.

[ixion]

9. lol.. never as long as the WoT continues

[liberal N proud]

12. Ha

This is DU, some one will bring it up tomorrow and the day after.

[whatchamacallit]

15. Miraculously, AQ will always be both on it's deathbed and reconstituting

It's Nineteen Eighty Four forever...

[Ken Burch]

17. Ah yes...it will be a "Zombadhi" threat, as long as that is needed...I mean...well, you know...

n/t.

[lumberjack_jeff]

16. Your question suggests that any of those considerations are relevant purposes.

Each cruise missile launched pays an array of defense contractors about $1 million.

So, no.

[Ken Burch]

18. Good point.

n/t.

[akbacchus_BC]

19. Aw, the good boys of the US, everybody else has to humble themselves!

[Ken Burch]

24. Scary how many Spawn of Cheney types we seem to have on THIS board isn't it?

It's the ultimate example of what I predicted, at the start of this administration, would be the "It's ok if OUR guy does it" syndrome.

[Major Hogwash]

20. We're going to use milk and cookies to lure the terrorists to their graves.

And sing kumbahya around a campfire making smores until they quit bombing us.

[Ken Burch]

22. Go to bed, Mr. Cheney.

It's not possible to kill every single "terrorist". And it's not worth it with all the innocent bystanders the drones hit at the same time.

9/11 was TEN FREAKING YEARS AGO. Osama is dead. Just admit it's over already. No good comes of killing anybody else.

[Major Hogwash]

29. Maybe we can send them all "Let Bygones Be Bygones" flower baskets by FTD.

I'm sure they'll appreciate the wonderful flower arrangements.

[Ken Burch]

31. Osama is dead. Al-Awaki is dead

We can't actually kill every single member of AQ. When will it ever be ENOUGH for you?

And why do you even have a peace sign in your posts if your this obsessed with bloodsoaked vengeance?

Your aren't honoring the victims of 9/11 at all by being like this, you know.

[Major Hogwash]

33. They're coming out with a whole new series of Hallmark cards just for Al Queda.

Ones that say "Remember this?" on the front with a picture of the Twin Towers smoking.
And then when you open the card there's a picture of a drone flying through the air and it says, "Thinking of you a lot lately."

Or another one is a picture on the front of Osama bin Laden saying "Death to America".
And then when you open the card there is a picture of the peaceful Atlantic Ocean at midday and it says, "How'd that work out for you, Osama?"

There's many more ideas for cards like that.
Many, many more.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Major Hogwash]

35. All you have is insults. I just came here to bring reality back to DU.

Especially to people who have a habit of banging on President Obama from red states.

[COLGATE4]

36. I think your DU name is perfect, since what you post is

major hogwash.

[Major Hogwash]

37. I'm glad you like my nickname.

It's one of the first things whiners complain about.

[sabrina 1]

42. 'Sing kumbaya' to Saddam. Where have I heard that before?

Liberals love terrorists? Have you said that yet? I haven't read the whole thread.

[Ken Burch]

43. He pretty much did. That's why I put him on ignore.

Funny how this guy just happened to pop up in this thread.

[Lucky Luciano]

25. I say kill Ayman Zawahirdgjhdvjgdf and then end the drones. nt

[Agony]

28. Fuck, No!

America! Fuck Yeah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWS-FoXbjVI

[BeHereNow]

41. Think "Syriana," the film.

So, no.
Basically.
Disgusting, but we have no voice.
BHN

[McCamy Taylor]

30. So..are we done with the threads about (a single) drone killing now?

I would like to concentrate on the deliberate destruction of the American middle class way of life, which, if successful, will only increase third worlder's chances of being killed by the U.S. government, since our military will become a mercenary for hire for corporations using it to assassinate union leaders and environmentakl activists.

[Ken Burch]

32. I'm with you on that.

But we can't fight Wall Street AND look the other way at black ops. The war machine is part of the problem.

[sabrina 1]

44. Do we know what Awlaqi was charged with?

I did some research and found no charges were filed against him. The WH press secretary doesn't know but he thinks he said some nasty things about us. He can't say that he actually ever did anything. I find that pretty worrying since he was a US citizen, AND a human being of course. I'd feel better if I knew why he was killed without charges. So would a lot of other people. When the government starts killing its own citizens anywhere in the world, I think people have a right to know why. Just saying someone is a terrorist doesn't work.

As for the destruction of the middle class, the people will have to take care of that. The politicians intend to make the people pay for Wall St's debt the same way they are doing in Europe. Which is why Europeans are on the streets. They don't want their Social Programs 'on the table' or their taxes raised to pay for gambling debts they did not run up.

I would like to start with some prosecutions so we can maybe find out where all the money went and retrieve some of it. It's amazing isn't it? A man was just killed, four actually, for what, we don't know. But the economic terrorists, the ones who crashed the world? Not one has even been questioned.

If you asked me who caused the most harm to this country and still threatens even more harm, Awlaqi or the corrupt, criminals who pre-meditated and planned the destruction of the middle class (I read a paper on how they did it last week and I should not have as I do not like to be that angry) and I cannot understand why no one is doing anything about them or to stop them.

[Ken Burch]

38. And I shouldn't even have to say this, but no, I don't mourn Al-Awlaki.

This isn't about him or AQ anymore. Hasn't been for years, and we all know it. And the people who keep going on about 9/11 sound like the British propagandists in World War One who kept screaming "What About Belgium?" when anyone pointed out that millions had already killed each other for no real reason.

[The Northerner]

39. Not for the time being n/t

[DirkGently]

45. Sure. We'll just close Pandora's box right ... hmmm, seems like it's stuck ...?!

[defendandprotect]

46. Are you kidding? Aren't they intending them for domstic use?