US drone war happens ‘in darkness’

The United States is carrying out drone strikes since it is the “least expensive” method to wage war against another country while avoiding US casualties, an American political commentator says.

“The (Obama) administration is using the drone program as sort of least expensive option so they don’t have to rely on ground troops and all the casualties that that leads to as well as the intensification of anti-war protests,” said Danny Schechter, the editor of the Mediachannel.org.

The US government has made hundreds of drone attacks on targets in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia since 2004.

A United Nations investigation on drones released on Friday said US drone strikes around the world have resulted in thousands of human deaths and may have violated international humanitarian law.

The Pakistan ministry of foreign affairs has recorded as many as 330 US drone strikes in the country’s north-western tribal areas since 2004 which has killed up to 2,200 people, of whom at least 400 were civilians.

“By using drones, you’re sort of doing it out of sight, out mind, in the darkness, in the shadows and as a consequence, you have a situation where the American public is not really aware of the impact of this, the collateral damage so-called, the impact on dead civilians in Pakistan,” Schechter said.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, of all the US drone attack victims since 2004, more than 76 percent of the dead fall in the legal grey zone, 22% are confirmed civilians (included 5% minors) and only the remaining 1.5% are high-profile targets.

AHT/DB