Ted Rall for January 03, 2014
January 02, 2014
January 09, 2014
Transcript:
Heather Linebaugh was a drone intelligence analyst for U.S. air force strokes against Afghanistan from 2009 to 2012. "Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial vehicle predator and repeat program-aka drones- I wish I could ask them a few questions. I'd start with: "how many women and children have you seen incinerated by a hellfire missile?" And: 'How many men have you seen crawl across a field, trying to make it to the nearest compound for help while bleeding out from severed legs?" The US and British militaries insist that this is an expert program but... it's curious that they feel the need to deliver faulty information, few or no statistics about civilian deaths and twisted technology reports on the capabilities of our UAVs
MiepR over 10 years ago
Curiouser and curiouser.
ConserveGov over 10 years ago
Drones save lives.
milesbw over 10 years ago
Is there a moral difference between a drone attack and a bomb detonated by a cell phone? Killing without risk makes you an executioner, not a soldier.
OmqR-IV.0 over 10 years ago
Perhaps Linebaugh will set up something similar to the Israeli veterans’ “Breaking the Silence”.
siruss over 10 years ago
Looks like you and Bors agree with each other today. Despite being right-wing, I agree with both of you as well.
Theodore E. Lind Premium Member over 10 years ago
There is always much discussion about what people don’t like. There is no conversation oh how to solve the problem. If not drones what alternative would you use? More troops? Do nothing and let the terrorists organizations grow? If not NSA’s data collection, how would you find terrorist networks?
53524 over 10 years ago
I’ve wondered often how enthusiastic Americans would be if, a foreign power were launching them and taking out wedding parties in Manhattan or targeting millionaire’s homes (suspected of corruption & tanking the economy) in Greenwich, CT …..
wilsonr6 over 10 years ago
Keep up the good work. Maybe someday somebody in DC will listen.
I Play One On TV over 10 years ago
“Kill terrorists there or they kill us here. What do you prefer?”
That was silly when Dubya said it. It still is. The idea behind it was that they wouldn’t bother to come here if we took the “war” to them. Tell those people attending the Boston Marathon how well that worked.
And how much did it cost us in terms of dollars, manpower, and lives to move tons of heavy equipment “over there”? I say, if they want to attack us here, THEY should pay the freight. Let them use up their missiles, tanks, and other ordnance, and let them find a way to pay for it all. Why should we bring all the entertainment to the party?
ConserveGov over 10 years ago
TED RALL SAID:
“Here’s how drones don’t save lives: 98% of their victims are innocent. 2% are “militants” who never threatened the US.” -—————————————I’d really like to see a link from a reputable source for this outrageous statement Ted. If you can provide one, I will astonishingly admit I’m wrong.More likely, is that this is just one of your made up propaganda “facts”.
Enoki over 10 years ago
To make an omelet you have to break some eggs….I’d say that’s the attitude of those running these programs…
echoraven over 10 years ago
It is important to have the debate while we still can.
countoftowergrove over 10 years ago
A little geography lesson, Manchester is in England, the Soviet Union is no longer in existence.
lonecat over 10 years ago
I don’t see any way to justify the drone program, except that it’s necessary in order to protect the empire. But I don’t support the empire, so I don’t have to twist myself into knots justifying the unjustifiable.
Ted Rall creator over 10 years ago
“My brother in law was at the bottom of the towers. How sickening do you suppose the sound was when the people who jumped from the window of the 103rd floor hit the paving stones?”
My college roommate jumped from the 102nd floor. I assume the sound was pretty much the same. Also, WTC wasn’t in SoHo, so no paving stones – just an expanse of sidewalk concrete.
“The entire history of warfare has been create a weapon that kills them in such a way that they have no chance of killing us back.”
That is true. But these technological advances in warfare have come at a psychic and propaganda price at each step. As aggressors with superior technology keep themselves safer and safer, their victims look upon them with more and more contempt. In a war of hearts and minds – something that warring parties concerned themselves less with in centuries past – that really does matter.
Finally, the people we are killing not only had nothing to do with 9/11 – they don’t even belong to organizations that had anything to do with 9/11, or that are interested in targeting the US or American citizens. So you really should leave your brother-in-law and my college roommate out of this discussion. The US is murdering these Pakistanis and Yemenis for fun and profit and geopolitical reasons that do not benefit the American people.
Ted Rall creator over 10 years ago
P.S. They WILL attach US with drones someday soon. And we will not have much to say about it because WE STARTED IT.
As usual.
Ted Rall creator over 10 years ago
The problem with your “we are in a war” meme is that our “friends” are really our enemies. The governments of Pakistan, Yemen, etc. are corrupt, Islamist, autocratic scum who hate the US. The people trying to overthrow them have more in common with our interests than the governments. The barbarians are US allies.
ConserveGov over 10 years ago
“What the drones do is create more angry people who want to kill the murderers that blew up their husbands, wives, sons, daughters, babies and their grand parents”——————————--———Then we should never kill our enemy…………;What a WEAK argument.
anonim over 10 years ago
“Actually, they started it. We are trying to end it.”
They started what exactly? The US has been killing people in Pakistan and Yemen since those countries were created. Its the ruling power in the region/s since the British were bankrupted by WWII (the Soviets had some success in part of Yemen, but that also involved the US killing through proxies). And what does “ending it” mean? If anything the “pivot to Asia” will lead to more wars, including in these geostrategically important ones.
pirate227 over 10 years ago
We could use suicide bombers instead…