Before Newtown, we passively endured many multiple murders by deranged men, in malls, movie theatres, and college campuses. What has finally moved us this time were the little children.
Powerful feelings of anger, vulnerability, powerlessness, and sadness seem to have focused our minds on doing something about the millions of assault weapons and other guns freely swimming in our national sea. We are all mourning with the victims and their families. It is unbearable to think of those 20 little bodies lying on the floor of their primary school, especially after learning that each was chewed up by 3 to 11 bullets; or of the unspeakable misery of those parents having to bury their children. Many could not look upon the bodies of their children because of the damage caused by the high velocity bullets emanating from the assault weapon used.
The President gave a wonderful speech at the Newtown memorial service last weekend. He said, “we are left with some hard questions”; that “every parent knows there’s nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm”; but that we haven’t done a good enough job keeping our children safe; that “we bear responsibility for every child, because we’re counting on everyone else to help look after ours, that we’re all parents, that they are all our children.”
No, we are not doing enough, and “we will have to change.” “If there’s even one step we can take to save another child or another parent or another town from the grief that’s visited on Tucson and Aurora and Oak Creek and Newtown and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that, then surely we have an obligation to try.” “Are we really prepared to say we are powerless in the face of such carnage?” “Are we prepared to say that such violence visited upon our children . . . is the price of our freedom?”
It is because of the simple truth of those words of our commander in chief, and the importance of the questions he raises, that we must now, in the midst of our pain here at home, reflect upon and talk about drones. Our drones. The drones that have become our weapon of choice in our wars abroad. The drones that this same President wields. The drones that kill children.
At least 178 children, as young as three years old, have been killed in Pakistan and Yemen by our drones.
I know that President Obama does not intentionally target children, or innocent women, or men, for that matter. Indeed, he claims that the drone strikes are precisely targeted to avoid “collateral damage.” But after the deaths of 178 little kids, he – and we -- must be conscious of the fact that there is a substantial likelihood that more children will be chewed up and obliterated by the future drone strikes he authorizes in our name.
The killing of these innocents by our drones is therefore done knowingly, and we are all morally responsible for them.
Some of the hard questions raised are these. Can the President’s words in Newtown and his deeds with drones be reconciled? Does our responsibility for not killing children or permitting their killing stop at the water’s edge? Are the Pakistani and Yemeni children just theirs, or are they ours, for whom we also bear responsibility, when it comes to their lives and limbs?
People all over the world have expressed their anguish over the loss of Newtown’s children. In our globalized, interconnected world today, do we all share responsibility for keeping children safe in one global “community?”
Don’t the Pakistani and Yemeni children, and their anguished parents, belong to that community? Are we prepared to say that the price of American freedom is the violence and carnage we visit upon these children? I am not, not after Newtown.
If, Mr. President, “they are all our children,” then “we have to change.” We will have to stop the drone strikes and fight our enemies with other means. Hew to the spirit of your words in Newtown, and as part of the action to be taken in response to the horror we have
What if the SWAT team had got to Newtown and in a shootout with the gunmen killed two children, yet saved all the others? We would be thanking them for the bravery. The drone attacks are targeted at known terrorists who would not hesitate to kill our children and yes it is unfortunate that their children might die, but there is a greater good.
I read your Bio and NO where in there do I see that you were in the military, served overseas or have anything to do with National Policy. You're a lawyer and I'm happy for you. Regarding drones? They are extremely effective and that's WHY the enemy has started this campaign in America with "do gooders" like you to get rid of them. You are indeed entitled to your opinions; Thank a Soldier, Marine , Sailor or Airman for that. However unless you have served in Afghanistan, Iraqi, Pakistan or Yemen your comments are USELESS to those who unfortunately served there and know better. Enjoy your idyllic life because someone paid the price for that free ride for you. BTW, drones have NOTHING to do with the CT tragedy; stop piling on.
More Unmanned Aircraft Will Be Flying In Domestic ...www.huffingtonpost.com/.../drones-Sep 19, 2012 – Expect to see more of these unmanned aircrafts flying overhead by 2015. ... What do you think about drones flying over U.S. airspace by 2015?
The mothers who are losing their children to Drones cry just as hard as ours do from unjustified killings. Being patriotic does not equate to being moral. That's why we are a Third World nation though we disguise it. We just refuse to examine it. Keep trusting in capitalism; see where it gets our children. There is no better time to discuss this. In fact, school killings, outside the inner cities are an issue marked over a decade ago by Columbine. The Journal News quoted my comments in the headlines at the time. Calling ourselves a Democratic nation does not mean we live up to it and “enforcing” democracy outside our borders distracts us from the consequences of neglecting our moral compass and the inevitable unpredictability of Mother Nature.
This is not WW II where there was a front line and armies met head on. This is a new kind of combat, in the cities, in the mountains, in the houses that they live in. This was and still is their choice, not ours. If we can kill them with drones and not risk the life of any of our military men and women then it's tactically and morally the right decision. My heart goes out to the military personnel who have been injured or killed, not the slime from al qaeda. Where was your indignation when they killed three thousand of our citizens?
Drones are extremely effective and the enemy doesn't have a defense against them so they CREATE these scenarios and this PR campaign that drones target the innocent. ALL MANURE. The Taliban and AQ use these "innocents" as shields the same way Saddam Hussein used schools, Mosques and hospitals as headquarters for his military, supply depots for weapons and ammunition etc. No one wants to harm the innocent but the rules in warfare have changed. It's called Asymmetric Warfare or 4th Generation warfare where PUBLIC OPINION is being used as a weapon. There's certainly enough gullible people in America to swallow that "stuff" too.
Flowers.