|
|
 |
By Paul J. Balles
10 October 2011
Paul J. Balles argues that the US and Israel “have apparently adopted a war machine of unmanned drones to eliminate any enemy – real or perceived”.
There are some scandals that refuse to die, either because they are never fully investigated or because those responsible for them never paid the price they should have. (Gideon Levy)
Issues that should concern everyone, but especially in America, have been subverted, degraded, perverted, retracted, eradicated, expunged, obscured, obliterated, squashed or (simply) zapped!
Cover-ups have kept these issues under wraps for all but those whose concern for the truth provokes them to do serious research, primarily on the internet.
The mainstream media rarely touch these topics and, when they are discussed in the alternative media, the discussions are limited to a few who have been following the issues closely.
Obscured issues that deserve more than a passing interest include:
Unmanned drones provide the one issue receiving major media coverage, because Anwar Awlaki, assassinated in Yemen, was an American citizen. A New York Times news alert reported: “Earlier this year, the American military renewed its campaign of air strikes in Yemen, using drone aircraft and fighter jets to attack Qaeda militants. One of the attacks was aimed at Mr. Awlaki, one of the most prominent members of the Qaeda affiliate group.”
According to the Guardian, “Awlaki became the first American citizen to be placed on the CIA's list of individuals around the world who the agency aims to kill or capture. His killing was approved by Barack Obama in April 2010. The news provoked strong condemnation from civil rights groups.”
Offering justification for Awlaki's murder, Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano claimed that Awlaki had taken on an operational role in attack planning.
Confirming Awlaki's death, Obama cited a link to the failed Christmas 2009 bombing of an airliner heading for Detroit and a bid to post bombs to synagogues in Chicago on cargo planes last year.
It had become clear that the use of drones in assassinations could no longer be kept under wraps.
The same strike that assassinated Awlaki killed Samir Khan, an American editor of a glossy magazine used as a propaganda and recruitment tool by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Writing in Truthout, Ramzy Baroud reported on the censored death of a Gaza boy killed in a drone attack by Israelis. The father told Baroud: Both of Ibrahim's arms were cut off. He had a hole in his lung. Parts of his legs were missing. His kidney was in a bad condition … we need people to stand with us...
Baroud reported that "Ibrahim Zaza was merely a 12-year-old boy. He and his cousin Muhammad, 14, were hit by an Israeli missile in Gaza, fired from an unmanned drone as they played in front of their house."
According to Baroud, "Palestinians were punished for an attack at Israelis that reportedly accrued near the Israeli border with Egypt. There is no evidence linking Gaza to the attack, and Egyptian authorities are now disputing the Israeli account altogether."
Both the US and Israel have apparently adopted a war machine of unmanned drones to eliminate any enemy – real or perceived.
With drones, the commanders fly their attack weapons into enemy territory with no risk to a flyer’s life. Nothing more than a remotely guided machine can be lost.
The deaths and destruction at the end of missions need not be seen by the attacker. The controller of the destructive drone need not lose sleep or suffer pangs of guilt remembering his unseen victims.
The perfect exterminator is on display.
 Subscribe to Redress News RSS Feed
 Subscribe to Redress Email Alerts
Copyright © Redress Information & Analysis.
All rights reserved.
|
|