Self-launcher

But not the one you were expecting...

 

 

This morning the US announced it had undertaken 2 more Drone strikes in the Yemen.
Up to nine suspected al-Qaida militants had been killed.
Good news to some perhaps...

However the key word in this press release is "suspected"...
Suspected by who? Suspected of doing what? Will we ever know if the "suspected bit" was even fact? Were the nine really al-Qaida members or just opponents of the Yemeni Government? If so can I call in a drone strike on the Green Party?

And even if the nine were "militants" it still raises other issues;
The Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute estimate that up to 50 civilians are killed for every 1 militant killed in a drone strike. So could the press release be re-worded to "450 mothers and children killed along with 9 suspected militants in todays Drone strikes" ?

What ever happened to the "Rule of Law" and "habeas corpus"??? Innocent until proven guilt??

Western Governments are given license to defend their populations...but using unmanned aircraft in a third world countries with dubious governments (which are being propped up by the US) to kill villagers, seems a very long bow to draw...

The Nobel Committee saw fit to give Obama a peace prize...is this what they envisaged?

And lastly, these drone strikes are being seen as grossly unjust and unfair by the local populations subjected to this abuse and so how many more young men are motivated to join the likes of al-Qaida as a result?

I suspect my neighbour is abusing his wife...can I call in a drone strike?? Of course not. I call the police who undertake an investigation and bring a case to court. The chap is arrested and brought before his peers. The facts are presented for all to see and jury of his peers and/or a judge decides. That is the Rule of Law".

Update - 9 days on and the Yemeni Gov't issued a press statement disputing claims 9 civilians had been killed in the Drone strikes and that "most" of those killed where suspected militants. So, firstly, some of those killed were in fact civilians, and secondly, after 9 days the Gov't hasn't been able to confirm that the others were militants at all. But 9 days is a long time and the bet will be we have forgotten about these poor unfortunate individuals...until the next time.

Back to gliding next...sorry.