WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE DRONE WAR?
A SEASONAL MATCH
McClatchy News is out with an insightful and illuminating report including data on the kill rate of US drones under the command of the Obama administration.
We, the US, have eliminated more than top commanders of Al Quaeda. Others, including non combatants, have also been killed.
Drone strikes are a lethal reach in modern war, but they are the source of a complex and thorny debate. Precise, but not perfect, the control, use and implication of drones are something in which every American has a stake. What do you think?
GOING PRO BLUES
I wonder what Dr James Naismith would think of the game of basketball that he invented in 1891 while teaching at a YMCA school. And I wonder how he'd think about college players, dropping out of school to turn professional.
It's that time of year when college stars are dashing the hopes of fans and coaches as they announce they are entering the NBA-going for the big bucks.
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All season I've been telling friends that Victor
Oladipo, IU's sensational junior would make a great NBA Player. I just didn't want to see him leave yet. He announced he is making himself available to be drafted. I've also been sounding off about another Hoosier standout and scorer-
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7 foot Cody Zeller. I think the kid has great potential, but he's not there yet. His two older brothers, Tyler and Luke are already in the NBA but Cody needs another year in college ball to gain skills that he presently lacks. His disappointing performance against Syracuse in the NCAA demonstrates his need for more strength, more finesse and more seasoning. Other big men can make him look like what he is, a 20 year old kid. He's got to learn to "play bigger" and to quit lowering his shoulder when he drives, and a few other skills that would make him a better pro. Too early for Cody, I fear. The lure of big money is a curse to the young athletes. Some leave school too early and have only middling careers as players.
A GOOD YEAR FOR LUPINE
See you down the trail.
Drones are OK as long as we have the monopoly.
ReplyDeleteWhich makes me think that we should be vary sparing.
Jim
Drones are a very complicated issue. The argument that innocent civilians are at risk isn't exactly solid, as pretty much any form of warfare carries that risk—and there's little way to deny we are indeed in a limited war against Islamic terrorism.
ReplyDeleteDrones are no more immoral than manned aircraft dropping laser guided missiles on highly selected targets. So it seems to me we can't reserve special humanitarian reservations about this strategy above all other forms of warfare.
There is of course the case to be made that ANY combat that puts civilians at risk is immoral. I'm all for that view, frankly. I just seems slightly disingenuous to argue that drone strikes are somehow MORE immoral. If anything, they may well be more precise and hence could be said to be more humane.
But the indiscriminate use without any kind of congressional oversight, that's out of bounds. Did we learn nothing from the Nixon years?
Drone strikes do pose a moral problem for us. The idea of them leaves a bad taste in my mouth but you can't discount their effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteB-52s? Stealth bombers? Drones? They are all delivery platforms; nothing more; nothing less. While I dislike war, I dislike defenselessness even more. I am more concerned about domestic drones watching Americans as a form of domestic spying. The loss of our personal privacy is incremental and never ending. Sadly, drones are the next step.
ReplyDeleteDrone strikes and even drone surveillance are an outrageous abomination, particularly coming from the United States which since its (our) beginning has publicly championed its (our) ethics. It's the war toy that will keep on giving. We are in endless war, but drones will be used domestically for both spying and shooting Americans. Drones are no less than a hyper-efficient KGB/Stassi/Secret Police. They are the ultimate mechanism of social control.
ReplyDeleteYou think I'm kidding? Without major change, I give democracy ten more years. Those who baked the pie are loathe to give up even a crumb of crust as they now have to. Their objective? A return to feudalism wherein the general populace is under total control. So, what happens then? The feudal lords (Koch Bros, Walton family, Pete Peterson, Carlos Slim, whatever Russians are at their pinnacle, etc.) start feuding with each other. It's the sociology of power and conflict.
Or maybe I'm just pissed because my Giants lost to the Cubs in the ninth.