Wednesday, August 25, 2010

"US Drone Strike Destroys House Full Of Children In Pakistan"

By Jason Ditz

24 August, 2010
AntiWar.com
(re-posted in countercurrents.org)
The Obama Administration’s policy of escalating drone strikes took another hit today, after the explosion from a drone attack against the house of “suspected militants” in North Waziristan also destroyed a neighboring house full of women and children.

The combined toll from the blast was 20 people killed, with at least four women and three children among the slain. At least 13 other civilians were also reported wounded, including a number of other children.

Pakistani intelligence officials say most of the “suspects” killed in the attacks were Afghans, but it is unclear how much evidence they had of wrongdoing. Large numbers of Afghan civilians have been living as refugees in the tribal areas since the 2001 US invasion.

The large numbers of civilians (700 in 2009 alone) killed in the US drone strikes has fueled considerable anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. When pressed during a previous visit Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shrugged off concerns about the civilians, saying only “there’s a war going on.”
How can the US continue launching drone attacks on Pakistan in the wake of the utter devastation brought on by massive flooding in recent weeks?

Surely someone in Obama's circle is humane enough to call off killing innocents in their flawed war(s).

Right?

Or am I just too idealistic and naive?

Whatever.

As it stands now Obama is no better than Bush, and in these contexts, he is proving to be worse.

Onward!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

obama is just a pretty puppet for the masses to adore and delude themselves into believing that the american dream really Can come true for anyone...
he makes a perfect screen for all the ugliness underneath.

as for bush....or any possible replacements...i dont think ANY american president will be better.i honestly cant foresee that one. it would suggest an acknowledgement of past mistakes, and for americans to rip off their self imposed blinkers...and that, simply...is too painful.
light can be blinding.

i remember an aalim once saying- we get the leaders that we deserve.

Ridwan said...

SLM.

You are absolutely right. The US presidency shows are remarkable consistency when it comes to violating human rights and acting imperial.

Even Carter ended up ignoring US-African foreign policy for the most part, so much so that the continent is not even mentioned in his autobiography.

Today he is different but it counted more then ... the same with Clinton who ignored the genocides in Rwanda and Burundi and then asked forgiveness thereafter.

The business of the US presidency is to be imperial ... Obomber is fitting right in.

Thanks for your comment.

Ridwan