The Drone Papers
Currently, there is a special inquiry going on in the German Bundestag (Federal Parliament). An ex-drone pilot is reporting about the work he did in the US miltary base in Ramstein Germany.<p>It is utterly shocking and disgusting.<p>I fail to see why this is not murder. According to press articles reporting about this inquiry, boys from the age of 12 were cleared to be killed by drones.<p>In my little happy world, there is only one reason when you are allowed to use violence - and that is self-defense (to protect you or others).
And according to German law and probably the law of many other countries, your self-defense is only justified if the attack on you is (1) unlawful, (2) happening right now (has started or is immediately impending) and (3) if the means to counter the attack are within reason.<p>The killing via drones makes me feel very, very uncomfortable. I don't think it is compatible with human rights or any reasonable constitution.<p>EDIT:
The following is a quote from the inquiry - quoted by the German Bundestag [1].<p>"In diesen Einsatzgebieten hätten alle männlichen Personen im Alter von über zwölf Jahren als legitime Ziele gegolten. Wenn ein Opfer jünger gewesen sei, sei das aber auch nicht besonders tragisch genommen worden. Man müsse das Gras mähen, bevor es wachse, habe es dann geheißen. Mit anderen Worten: Aus Kindern wären später ohnehin Terroristen geworden."<p>My clumsy translation:
"In these areas of operation, all male persons above the age of 12 were considered legitimate targets. If a victim was younger, however, it was not regarded as a big deal. You have to mow the grass, before it grows, it was said. In other words: Children would have become terrorists later anyways."<p>This is revolting.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2015/kw42_pa_nsa/390984" rel="nofollow">http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2015/kw42_pa_ns...</a>