Mark it down: on October 22nd, 2013. The United States government officially declared that they murdered innocent people. The kicker is that it seems that they couldn’t care less.
Responding to reports released by Amnesty International involving U.S. drone strikes in foreign countries, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney admitted killing civilians abroad, but stated the strikes were both ?precise? and ?lawful?
Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization focused on human rights, emphatically disagrees. After focusing on 45 drone strikes over two years in Pakistan, they concluded the United States has in fact committed war crimes by violating the internationally recognized ?right to life?
Naureen Shah, Amnesty’s advocacy adviser, in reference to one particular strike, stated:
There are real threats to the U.S. in the region, but it is hard to imagine that a 68-year-old grandmother or a 14-year-old boy are among them.
One heart-breaking example comes from the Rehman family, who testified at a Congressional Briefing on drone strikes on October 29th.? The briefing, organized by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) gave the family a chance to tell their story, and was a rare glimpse into the reality of our government’s actions abroad.
Pakistani schoolteacher Rafiq ur Rehman and his two children (9 year-old Nabila and 13 year-old Zubair) spoke out against a drone strike that killed the children’s 65 year old grandmother.
In an open letter to President Barack Obama, Rafiq wrote:
Nobody has ever told me why my mother was targeted that day. The media reported that the attack was on a car, but there is no road alongside my mother’s house. Several reported the attack was on a house. But the missiles hit a nearby field, not a house. All reported that five militants were killed. Only one person was killed ? a 65 year-old grandmother of nine.
If true, this means that not only is the information we are being provided by our Government and our corporate media false, but they are actively spreading misinformation to support a drone program that may be creating more terrorists than it prevents. And most importantly, the US has woefully ignored the human rights of innocents in other countries, and is now denying it by clinging to the argument that it is ?precise? and ?legal?
The silver lining to this grey sky? At least a congressional briefing was held on drone strikes in the first place. If only more than 5 congressional representatives (all democrats) had shown up. Maybe it’s better that the sky remains grey. Just ask Zubair Rehman, injured in the drone strike that killed his grandmother:
I no longer love blue skies. In fact, I now prefer grey skies. Drones don’t fly when sky is grey.
Edited/Published by: JL
