Forum Post: UN to Investigate Civilian Deaths from US Drone Strikes
Posted 11 years ago on Oct. 27, 2012, 1:44 a.m. EST by TrevorMnemonic
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This content is user submitted and not an official statement
"The U.S. continues to carry out illegal targeted killings in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere. The government must be held to account when it carries out such killings in violation of the Constitution and international law." - ACLU
The United Nations is to set up a dedicated investigations unit in Geneva early next year to examine the legality of drone attacks in cases where civilians are killed. - From Oct. 25, 2012 Guardian -
According to detailed and cited information from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism,
it's been confirmed 350 illegal bombings in Pakistan
51 confirmed illegal bombings in Yemen, possible additional US drone strikes: 65-79
and 9 confirmed illegal bombings in Somalia
The Obama administration, the Bush administration, and the CIA have refused to acknowledge many aspects of these targeted killing programs and even many of the bombings... claiming national security or top secret.
"Virtually every time the U.S. fires a missile from a drone and ends the lives of Muslims, American media outlets dutifully trumpet in headlines that the dead were ”militants” – even though those media outlets literally do not have the slightest idea of who was actually killed." They simply cite always-unnamed “officials” claiming that the dead were “militants.” It’s the most obvious and inexcusable form of rank propaganda: media outlets continuously propagating a vital claim without having the slightest idea if it’s true."
I hope that there is a real investigation - but the use of Drones in civilian areas where the target ( terrorist(?) legitimate target(?) ) is mixed in among innocent people - is essentially the same as Assad bombing his civilian population = A CRIME - MURDER.
Drone bombing should be outlawed for use outside of a clear field of battle - a battlefield - where actual fighting is taking place - an actual exchange of fire - outside of civilian areas - where the fire can be called down on an actual military target like a tank or artillery installation or a bunker that is in operation attacking our forces. Not suspected hideouts in civilian areas.
Thank you for post.
I doubt that the UN is going to punish the countries that run it, namely us.
That being said, I think this is just more of a sign that the entire thing is breaking down. There's a lot of finger pointing going on the last few years.