Did I hear that right? Did President Barack Obama actually utter those words to the people of the world in a speech before the UN General Assembly on September 25, 2012? So, based on those explicit words, can he even begin to explain, let alone justify, the ongoing tragic deaths of innocent civilians that are being caused by drone attacks that he has personally authorized?
When Mr. Obama referred to the killing of "innocents" was he speaking of the needless, tragic killing of innocent people no matter who they are or in what country they may reside? Or did he mean, as most media observers would conclude, the tragic, needless deaths of the American ambassador and three other diplomats in the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya?
President Obama should be asked to clarify that statement to determine if the innocents he referred to include the hundreds of innocent men, women and children in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and other nations that have died as a result of these relentless attacks. Is it possible that he doesn't understand that taking life of any human being, in the absence of completely justifiable reasons, is morally wrong?
If Mr. Obama really and truly means exactly what he said, it follows that he should bring an immediate end to the current program by which deadly Predator and Reaper drones are violating the borders and airspace of sovereign nations and breaking international law. He should initiate an in-depth study of the use of these drones in military actions, laying down specific guidelines that would dictate the situations in which they should be used; to set down a strict policy to use them only when the evidence supporting an attack on specific targets is irrefutable.
And such a policy would need to put a high priority on making certain that innocent civilians are absolutely excluded. What is extremely disturbing is the fact that as we continue to read accounts, mainly from independent sources on the internet, of helpless children being killed by drone attacks, instead of some kind of apology coming from this government, all we hear are denials that this is happening; and we hear no objections of any kind being raised by the pitiful mainstream media.
There are no words to excuse these tragic deaths of innocents but, even worse, the fact that they often happen when rescuers rush to the scene of a drone attack to help others and they then become the targets of a second attack. Here is an article that offers proof that hundreds of innocent people have been killed in these attacks.
Mr. Obama also stated, "And on this we must agree: There is no speech that justifies mindless violence. There are no words that excuse the killing of innocents. There's no video that justifies an attack on an embassy. There's no slander that provides an excuse for people to burn a restaurant in Lebanon, or destroy a school in Tunis, or cause death and destruction in Pakistan."
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