Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Drone Warfare.

This is coolbert:

From the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times and Yahoo we have further regarding the drone strikes, controversial and being called into question by "some", those Predator and Reaper firing Hellfire obviously causing big time hurt to the adversary, the Taliban of Omar and Al Qaeda remnants!!

 1. "Congress zooms in on drone killings" Senators on a monthly basis personally viewing video footage of drone strikes. Ascertaining as best they can that the drones are hitting legitimate targets with a minimum of collateral damage. As claimed and hopefully as is.

 "I don't know that we've ever seen anything that we thought was inappropriate," - - senior staff member [Congressional staff.]

 "some members of Congress have recently raised questions about 'signature' drone attacks based on an individuals pattern of behavior."

 "Signature" drone attack against a GROUP of Taliban or Al Qaeda adherents, NOT aimed at individual persons, a dozen or two dozen enemy fighters gathered, armed poised and ready to strike the target.

This is in question? 

 2. "U.S. Tightens Drone Rules"

 From the Wall Street Journal [WSJ] too we have an article the description of those two types of drone strikes, Hellfire missiles and such that more than likely is giving the adversary a lot of grief.

 Two types of drone attack possible. What are called "signature" a group the target as opposed to "personality" a high value target [HVT] as was recently the case in Yemen against the American natural born citizen the cleric Al-Awalki.

 * "Signature strikes target groups of men believed to be militants associated with terrorist groups, but whose identities aren't always known."

 * "a 'personality' strike, targets known terrorist leaders and has faced less internal scrutiny."

 3. "Jimmy Carter Accuses U.S. of 'Widespread Abuse of Human Rights'"

 Former American President Carter ONLY today in the harshest and unexpected terms in strong opposition to purported American human rights abuses, DRONE STRIKES BEING ONE SUCH ABUSE AS SINGLED OUT THE EX-PRESIDENT!!

 "A former U.S. president is accusing the current president of sanctioning the 'widespread abuse of human rights' by authorizing drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists"

 From the same article we read the estimations of drone strike casualties over a period of three full years to be:

 "the New America Foundation estimates that in Pakistan alone 265 drone strikes have been executed since January 2009 . Those strikes have killed at least 1,488 people, at least 1,343 of them considered militants" 

Folks, this is not Dresden, Hamburg, Tokyo or Hiroshima for that matter. 

 That area of the world too, Waziristan and the Tribal Areas of Pakistan make the situation more difficult and tense.

Persons within that region habitually carry firearms and wage blood feuds, tribe and clan against other tribe and clan. Hard for even the expert to differentiate between the local Pathan strongman and a Taliban or Al Qaeda terrorist.

 Again, these drones are not waging war from the air in an indiscriminate manner, ala Dresden, Hamburg, etc. Many protocols in place before a Hellfire launched, even it would seem according to the New American Foundation the results rather good, collateral casualties at a minimum?

 coolbert.

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