John O. Brennan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The nomination of President Barack Obama’s top counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan to head the CIA has sparked outrage and concern about America’s growing drones program and its use for targeted killings of suspected Islamic militants. Brennan is believed to be a big supporter of the drone program and has thus been dubbed “Mr. Drone” by the media.
The administration has yet to confirm that such a program exists. The reluctance to confirm the program’s existence does not hinder the fact that indeed it is active.
In a speech last year at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Brennan said:
“There is nothing in international law that bans the use of remotely piloted aircraft for this purpose or that prohibits us from using lethal force against our enemies outside of an active battlefield, at least when the country involved consents or is unable or unwilling to take action against the threat.”
The concern with such a program is the potential result of innocent, civilian casualties who are killed because they are in the near vicinity of the blast. The program has been criticized for having little transparency, not enough legal oversight and too broad definition of what defines a target. Others claim that the program in fact is used a great recruiting tool for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The hatred for America after a loved one is innocently killed can turn men into jihadists,
“Homeland,” a Showtime show, has depicted a fictionalized storyline based on such a secret drone program. The main terrorist of the first two seasons was trying to avenge the death of his son who was killed while playing soccer with the local village boys. The program itself brings forth many questions.
Is the program moral and/or ethical?
I’m not convinced one way or the other. I’d really like to read your thoughts on the matter. I do find it somewhat interesting that President Obama had a problem with torturing detainees at Guantanamo Bay (the prison is still active), yet engages in a program in where you can’t always been certain innocent civilians won’t be killed.
*Here’s a link to my thoughts on torture.
So what do you think?
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Twitter: @adrakontaidis & @talkrealdebate
