News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 27, 2014: This story disappeared real quick in today’s New York Times, and it didn’t appear at all in much of the media. It should be the banner headline story everywhere except too much of the media is not in the business of Truth …
Here is The Times headline before it vanished from view …
“Use of Drones for Killings Risks a War Without End, Panel Concludes in Report”
Yes this is a powerful story about Obama’s favorite “toy” drones and also about much more that describes the idiocy of American foreign policy.
Here is the opening paragraph a real mouth full of troubling logic …
The Obama administration’s embrace of targeted killings using armed drones risks putting the United States on a “slippery slope” into perpetual war and sets a dangerous precedent for lethal operations that other countries might adopt in the future, according to a report by a bipartisan panel that includes several former senior intelligence and military officials.
Hope you noticed the very first words are: “The Obama Administration.”
This story and the report are all about Barack Obama and as Obama’s America has been telling you all along he does not have a Clue what he is doing. He heralds these drone attacks as a perfect example of his success when the result is exactly the opposite of what is good for America.
Ready for the second paragraph …
“The group found that more than a decade into the era of armed drones, the American government has yet to carry out a thorough analysis of whether the costs of routine secret killing operations outweigh the benefits. The report urges the administration to conduct such an analysis and to give a public accounting of both militants and civilians killed in drone strikes.”
That’s right add to the list Obama’s drone strikes are shrouded in secrecy for national security reasons of course. Of course they are. This is the President who was going to bring us Transparency add that to the Lies of Obama.
Ready for this from the report itself …
“The report is especially critical of the secrecy that continues to envelop drone operations and questions whether they might be creating terrorists even as they are killing them.”
And more (no need for me to write my own commentary) …
“There is no indication that a U.S. strategy to destroy Al Qaeda has curbed the rise of Sunni Islamic extremism, deterred the establishment of Shia Islamic extremist groups or advanced long-term U.S. security interests,” the report concludes.
Time for an ENCORE …
“There is no indication that a U.S. strategy to destroy Al Qaeda has curbed the rise of Sunni Islamic extremism, deterred the establishment of Shia Islamic extremist groups or advanced long-term U.S. security interests,” the report concludes.”
So who made up this panel? Some “left wing radicals?” No, no, no!
“The panel includes a number of former Pentagon and C.I.A. officials and is jointly led by retired General John P. Abizaid, the former head of United States Central Command, and Rosa Brooks, a fellow at the New America Foundation and a law professor at Georgetown University. Other members of the group are Philip Mudd, a former deputy director of the C.I.A.’s Counterterrorism Center; Jeffrey Smith, who served as the C.I.A.’s general counsel during the Clinton administration; and John B. Bellinger III, the legal adviser to the National Security Council and the State Department during the administration of George W. Bush.”
Now here is the BS from The White House in response to the report …
“The administration is exploring ways we can provide more information about the United States’ use of force in counterterrorism operations outside areas of active hostilities, including information that provides the American people with a better understanding of U.S. assessments of civilian casualties,” she said, adding that the United States needs to preserve “the ability to continue those operations.”
Now I will step in. What is going on here is that U.S. foreign policy is knee jerk nonsense whether it’s the Democrats or the Republicans. Whoopee! These drones can kill some “bad guys” but at what price causing the U.S. even more problems than if we had not and as part of that equation inevitably killing children, women and men who have absolutely nothing to do with any kind of anti-American activity in fact are often friendly toward the U.S.
And then there is the obvious fact if the U.S. uses killing drones why isn’t everybody else going to do the same just as fast as the technology becomes “affordable.” So how does the U.S. win the drone wars when everyone on every side everywhere is using killer drones with abandon “ just like President Obama and the Americans do.” Is this American leadership??
This is how The Times article puts it …
“The report raised warnings that other countries might adopt the same rationale as the United States has for carrying out lethal strikes outside of declared war zones. Using an example of a current crisis, it said that Russia could use armed drones in Ukraine under the justification that it was killing anti-Russian terrorists and then refuse to disclose the intelligence that served as the basis for the strike.”
“In such circumstances,” the report asked, “how could the United States credibly condemn Russian targeted killings?”
Do I need to add anything more? No! You should get the picture …
It does not make President Barack Obama look good.
No surprise at all, unfortunately!
