July 9, 2010
(Unlawful) Targeted Killing
The U.S. government should not murder people abroad. A simple enough rule, yet in a bizarre, barbaric, and cold-blooded fashion Washington now not only claims the right to murder anyone it wants, anywhere it wants, abroad, including American citizens, but actively carries out such intent with drone missile strikes. Captain Ahab channeling Lord of the Flies could not have devised a more insensible policy. To talk about the legal issues I turned to Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. Thank you, Philip! Total runtime thirty five minutes. International law isn't made to be broken.
Comments
Interesting interview. One point that wasn't specifically mentioned that has been a primary concern to me about the use of armed drones is that of overkill — meaning that most of the uses of the armed drones that we've heard about was to target individuals, while the results of such targeting almost always has been that multiple deaths and/or injuries have occurred.
In a war zone, "collateral damage" isn't such an issue, in that nearly everyone in the area is considered an enemy, whereas in the three countries where the drones are being used today (Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan), such is not the case and the U.S. says they seriously try to avoid killing civilians. Thus it seems to me to be stupid to use a guided missile containing multiple pounds of high explosive and/or shrapnel to kill an individual and not expect to have collateral damage. And if the operators of these weapons accept the collateral damage (as they have) then any deaths other than the "justifiably targeted" individual seems to me to be at the least unjustifiable homicide, if not outright murder.
When these armed drones are used by anyone other than the U.S., I suspect that a great many more people will become concerned about their use.
[One former very senior policy maker suggests to me that we could see that within a decade. g.]
Posted by: John Gall | July 9, 2010 11:08 AM
DIY drones are already popular with hobbyists. I'm not aware of any armed ones yet, though the potential for mischief and mayhem is obvious. In fact the Russians have taken an early lead in this technology, as seen in this Gary Kasparov press conference.
Posted by: Foley Walker | July 9, 2010 3:07 PM
Another great conversation, thanks George.
Just a quick correction - Bruce Simpson, the "cruise missile" guy is from New Zealand, not from Australia (as you suggested when you described him as a compatriot of Mr Alston).
A minor point, but NZers like to remind the world that we're quite distinct from our cousins across the Tasman Sea.
[Apologies — I stand corrected. Thanks! g.]
Posted by: Richard
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July 9, 2010 3:20 PM
Thank you for pointing out the trivializing, video game names for these grotesque weapons, "Hellfire" et al. Unrelated suggestion: William Pfaff is a writer of good sense and good will. Have you thought of interviewing him? I believe he has a new book coming out.
[I would be only too happy to interview William Pfaff, for whom I have tremendous regard. Alas, he hasn't replied to the several invitations I've sent him over the years... g.]
Posted by: anonymous | July 13, 2010 11:24 AM
P.W. Singer has written extensively on drones and their use in Pakistan. He'd make for a lively interview.
[Thanks, Francisco — I'll look into the possibility. g.]
Posted by: FXB | July 27, 2010 2:46 PM