Sunday, February 10, 2013

SEN. KING - DRONES ARE NOT HUMANE!


I sent a Letter to the Editor of the Brunswick Times Record yesterday about our newly elected Sen. Angus King's comment that drones are a "humane weapon."  King lives in Brunswick and my hope is that many who voted for him, thinking that he'd be a moderate Independent, will feel compelled to get him to change his harsh thinking about drones.

It would be good if fellow Mainers, and others from around the world, would send Sen. King messages to help him see his remarks are wrong and hurtful.  You can reach Sen. King here
   
Dear Editor:

Predator and Reaper drones are not humane.  The Pentagon calls them "efficient Hunter-Killer platforms".

The Senate Intelligence Committee confirmation hearings for President Obama's new CIA director, John Brennan, unleashed a fire storm of criticism about the killer drone program.

Sadly the day following the February 7 public hearing I heard Maine's new Sen. Angus King interviewed on MSNBC where he called drones a "very smart artillery shell....a more humane weapon." 

Sen. King is an intelligent man which is likely one reason he was appointed to the Senate Intelligence Committee that was in charge of holding the Brennan confirmation hearings.  Unfortunately the Senate Intel Committee appears to be more concerned with protecting the administration's drone war than getting to the bottom of the truth.

The drones, with their "Hellfire missiles" on-board, have been used over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia.  Reports have been surfacing for years that legions of civilians are being killed by the unmanned drones which are flown by pilots sitting in front of computer screens back in the US using military satellites to guide them.  Global outrage against these unforgiving weapons has grown so strong that the UN has begun an investigation into the legality and casualties of drone strikes.

A new study from Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute finds that the number of Pakistani civilians killed in drone strikes are “significantly and consistently underestimated” by the US government.  The Bureau of Investigative Journalism issued a report detailing how the CIA is deliberately targeting those who show up after a drone attack - rescuers and even mourners at funerals.

So far a minimum 2,629 people appear to have died in CIA drone strikes in Pakistan. The Bureau’s work suggests 475 of them were likely to have been civilians.  We are making new enemies with every drone strike.  Obama's CIA designate Brennan claims that no civilians have been killed.

I call on Sen. King to retract his statement that drones are a "humane weapon" and believe that he should apologize to the citizens of Maine and to the civilian victims of US strikes.  I would urge those who voted for Sen. King, thinking he was a moderate alternative, join me in asking him to change his thinking on drones.

Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Bath

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