My letter to the editor was published in our local paper, The Times Record, today. Just as I was posting this I learned about US drones killing another 45-50 people in Pakistan as they were attending a funeral of people who had recently been killed by these Unmanned Aerial Vehciles (UAV's). This situation is totally insane and Obama has to take responsibility. That is, if the peace movement, has the courage to call him on it.
Dear Editor:
The national media made a big deal about President Obama killing a fly. His “I got the sucker” was even compared to a similar moment by honest Abe Lincoln.
But sadly little time in the national media is spent describing the tragic consequences to hundreds of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan who have been killed by United States unmanned aerial vehicles, or “drones” as they are popularly called.
These drones are directed by military space satellites and flown by U.S. soldiers sitting at computer terminals inside Creech Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nev. The Air Force named these drones the “Predator” and the “Reaper.” The pilots watch in “real time” as cameras on the drones send back images from the war zone and in split-second time a button is pressed and missiles are fired. Is it the Taliban? Is it a wedding?
Can there be the slightest doubt that this “hands off” way of killing today is absolutely repugnant? What does it say about us as a nation that we can cavalierly kill from a distance with little conscience or public outcry?
It’s as if we are just killing flies.
Bruce K. Gagnon, coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, Bath
Very nice work, Bruce. I am glad the printed it.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere a couple of days ago, that right now, they are training more people to fly these drones than they are training actual pilots. That is beyond disgusting if you ask me.
Good Op Ed.
Yeah its just mind blowing how Obama can talk trash about democracy and the sacredness of life in Iran and then turn around and keep killing folks by the legions in Afghanistan-Pakistan. If anyone doubted the total corruption of the Democrats then this should knock them on their asses.
ReplyDeleteThen there's this, which I believe you might of mentioned Bruce in your latest video.
ReplyDeleteU.S. pays to keep Kyrgyz base open for Afghan supply
BISHKEK (Reuters) - The United States has agreed to pay $180 million to Kyrgyzstan to keep open the last remaining U.S. air base in Central Asia which is used to supply troops fighting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE55M0XM20090623?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true
Yes, "killing flies". It's said that's what kids are being trained to do with their video games. They sure are learning good hand/eye coordination. Just what the MIC ordred, huh?
ReplyDeleteI recommend Orson Scott Cards Book, ENDERS GAME.
ReplyDeleteafter you read that, you see that remote war and how to do it, was all mapped out long before we saw it.
The minds behind it should worry us all.
JG:
ReplyDeleteCheck this out if you wanna see something disturbing on this topic:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/2/6/wired_for_war_the_robotics_revolution
Good point. See also Asimov's Robots trilogy. Asimov posits "laws of robotics" which - for the protection of humans - require a very clear distinction to be maintained between humans and robots. The first and most important law is that a robot must not, by action or omission, cause or permit harm to a human being. By corollary, integration of artificial intelligence systems into weapons is strictly prohibited because an intelligent weapons system would readily assume that any enemy it encountered is likewise a robot, and so permissible to destroy. A humanoid robot at the controls of a weapons system would not so easily make that assumption. Asimov explores various methods by which these rules may be thwarted. Perhaps the most pernicious is the technique of defining "human being" narrowly, e.g. so as to include only human beings who speak a certain language with a particular accent. This appears to be the general direction the US military is travelling in: Some Americans are people; non-Americans are insects.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sister B. Good interview. Those "fingertip drones" that can peek in my 2nd floor bedroom window are the ones that freak me out most!
ReplyDeleteDid you notice how the Army made a loser into their top pilot drone? Is that not scary for more than one reason?
ReplyDelete