America Kills Lots of Innocent People...

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

America Kills Lots of Innocent People, But Don't Worry, We're "The Good Guys"

 

 

A few days ago, the U.S. military killed at least 73 innocent people in Syria. We were trying to bomb the bad guys of ISIS, but instead something went wrong and we killed a bunch of innocent people. This latest horror from Syria is nothing new; almost a year ago, in August 2015, a report from a group of independent journalists found that U.S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq had killed more than 450 innocent people, including 100 children.

 

And it’s not just the bombardment campaign against ISIS that is resulting in America killing innocent people. This is part of a broader pattern of America killing innocent people all over the Muslim world in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan and Yemen and even Iran as part of America’s ongoing foreign policy of “keep bombing the Muslim world until everyone loves us.”

 

We killed 42 innocent people—including medical staff and patients—at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan in October 2015 (the attack was described by the Pentagon as unintentional, resulting from a series of errors and miscommunications). We killed 37 Afghan civilians (including 10 women and 23 children) at a wedding party in 2008 (this is one of many Muslim wedding parties during the past 15 years that have been interrupted by American bombs or drone strikes). We kill so many innocent people in so many ways that we don’t even fully know how many we’re killing or why they’re being killed. A 2015 report from the Intercept found that 90% of the people killed in drone strikes in Afghanistan were “not the intended targets” of the attacks.

 

We’re killing innocent people in countries where we’re not even officially at war. We bombed a wedding party full of innocent people in Yemen. It’s happening all over the Muslim world, and most Americans just seem perfectly fine with all of this. America’s drone strikes and accidental bombings of civilians have become a steady background noise; it’s like in our typical Attention Deficit Disorder American way, we’ve all silently decided that this is the price we’re willing to pay—loss of other people’s innocent lives—as long as it gives us the feeling of being “safe” from another big terrorist attack.

 

But can’t we at least ask a few uncomfortable questions? Such as:

 

1) In the long run, is our drone strike program really keeping America safe?

 

2) How long do we want to keep doing this drone strike program? Another 10 years? Forever? (We can’t even technically call the drone strikes a “war” anymore, because it’s operating in an extralegal shadow realm where quaint ideas like “declaring war” no longer apply.)

 

3) Are we really eliminating terrorist masterminds and existential threats to American security here, or are we just bombing wedding parties and burning hospital patients alive and ruining families and sowing anti-American rage and despair throughout the Muslim world? Are we creating more future terrorists? Are we making the world less safe and more violent in the long run?

 

4) Are we setting a bad standard of conduct that might come back to haunt us someday when other countries get drones of their own? What happens someday when the terrorists get drones? If we’re creating an international legal standard that it’s OK for America to bomb all these other countries with drone strikes, what’s to stop other countries from bombing America with drone strikes someday, other than our own presumed superiority in defending our airspace?

 

5) How should liberals feel about this? We hated George W. Bush for his warmongering and the many uncountable thousands of people who died in his name in Iraq and Afghanistan, but shouldn’t we be more critical of Barack Obama for being so enthusiastic about drone strikes? Sure, Obama’s cool and funny and his wife does carpool karaoke, but c’mon. This is insane. We’re killing lots and lots of innocent people every year, with no end in sight, and no one on the left seems to care, because we’d rather marvel at the latest viral video of Obama freestyling with Lin-Manuel Miranda. Have progressives not done enough to hold Obama accountable for this uniquely terrible use of American military power? Isn’t American militarism, imperialism and slaughter of innocents just as bad when it’s being administered by a cool black president?

[plantmanky]

We could do nothing, and wait for them to kill us.

[Voice of Reason]

How many innocent people have been killed by ISIL, Al Qaeda and terrorists?

 

If Muslims want to protect the innocent people they will rise up against ISIL related terrorists and take back their religion.

[PurplePride92]

I thought we weren't doing anything at all. You mean to tell me Obama has been bombing Muslims all this time and no one has talked about it? All I hear is how Obama is a Muslim and how he loves Muslims and the Muslim Brotherhood but yet here he is launching drone strike after drone strike? Who knew????

 

Intriguing.

 

I do need to check out the freestyle with the Lin-Manuel Miranda cat. I didn't know about that either.

[hidinout]

Tyler .. buy you a one way ticket and stay several years in Syria and come back and give us a first hand account .

[Voice of Reason]

Tyler ... I have not read the linked story yet. I think the questions you are asking are fair questions to ask from a country that prides itself on doing the right thing. Unfortunately, we are now in a unique time with a unique enemy. There have always been civilian casualties in times of war.

[LIPTON BASH]

America Kills Lots of Innocent People, But Don't Worry, We're "The Good Guys"

 

 

A few days ago, the U.S. military killed at least 73 innocent people in Syria. We were trying to bomb the bad guys of ISIS, but instead something went wrong and we killed a bunch of innocent people. This latest horror from Syria is nothing new; almost a year ago, in August 2015, a report from a group of independent journalists found that U.S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq had killed more than 450 innocent people, including 100 children.

 

And it’s not just the bombardment campaign against ISIS that is resulting in America killing innocent people. This is part of a broader pattern of America killing innocent people all over the Muslim world in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan and Yemen and even Iran as part of America’s ongoing foreign policy of “keep bombing the Muslim world until everyone loves us.”

 

We killed 42 innocent people—including medical staff and patients—at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan in October 2015 (the attack was described by the Pentagon as unintentional, resulting from a series of errors and miscommunications). We killed 37 Afghan civilians (including 10 women and 23 children) at a wedding party in 2008 (this is one of many Muslim wedding parties during the past 15 years that have been interrupted by American bombs or drone strikes). We kill so many innocent people in so many ways that we don’t even fully know how many we’re killing or why they’re being killed. A 2015 report from the Intercept found that 90% of the people killed in drone strikes in Afghanistan were “not the intended targets” of the attacks.

 

We’re killing innocent people in countries where we’re not even officially at war. We bombed a wedding party full of innocent people in Yemen. It’s happening all over the Muslim world, and most Americans just seem perfectly fine with all of this. America’s drone strikes and accidental bombings of civilians have become a steady background noise; it’s like in our typical Attention Deficit Disorder American way, we’ve all silently decided that this is the price we’re willing to pay—loss of other people’s innocent lives—as long as it gives us the feeling of being “safe” from another big terrorist attack.

 

But can’t we at least ask a few uncomfortable questions? Such as:

 

1) In the long run, is our drone strike program really keeping America safe?

 

2) How long do we want to keep doing this drone strike program? Another 10 years? Forever? (We can’t even technically call the drone strikes a “war” anymore, because it’s operating in an extralegal shadow realm where quaint ideas like “declaring war” no longer apply.)

 

3) Are we really eliminating terrorist masterminds and existential threats to American security here, or are we just bombing wedding parties and burning hospital patients alive and ruining families and sowing anti-American rage and despair throughout the Muslim world? Are we creating more future terrorists? Are we making the world less safe and more violent in the long run?

 

4) Are we setting a bad standard of conduct that might come back to haunt us someday when other countries get drones of their own? What happens someday when the terrorists get drones? If we’re creating an international legal standard that it’s OK for America to bomb all these other countries with drone strikes, what’s to stop other countries from bombing America with drone strikes someday, other than our own presumed superiority in defending our airspace?

 

5) How should liberals feel about this? We hated George W. Bush for his warmongering and the many uncountable thousands of people who died in his name in Iraq and Afghanistan, but shouldn’t we be more critical of Barack Obama for being so enthusiastic about drone strikes? Sure, Obama’s cool and funny and his wife does carpool karaoke, but c’mon. This is insane. We’re killing lots and lots of innocent people every year, with no end in sight, and no one on the left seems to care, because we’d rather marvel at the latest viral video of Obama freestyling with Lin-Manuel Miranda. Have progressives not done enough to hold Obama accountable for this uniquely terrible use of American military power? Isn’t American militarism, imperialism and slaughter of innocents just as bad when it’s being administered by a cool black president?

 

It's called war. Kill or be killed.

[bugatti]

I am not trying to spark a debate, but think if every few days there was a news headline that read, "Drone strike kills 37 people in Chattanooga."

[Hellcats]

I thought we weren't doing anything at all. You mean to tell me Obama has been bombing Muslims all this time and no one has talked about it? All I hear is how Obama is a Muslim and how he loves Muslims and the Muslim Brotherhood but yet here he is launching drone strike after drone strike? Who knew????

 

Intriguing.

 

I do need to check out the freestyle with the Lin-Manuel Miranda cat. I didn't know about that either.

 

More of how Obama can't win. I hope the man enjoys a long retirement and begs his wife to stay out of the public life. He should look at what the Clintons have endured.

[LIPTON BASH]

More of how Obama can't win. I hope the man enjoys a long retirement and begs his wife to stay out of the public life. He should look at what the Clintons have endured.

 

I disagree with Obama on policy. Never hated the man. I guarantee you 10 years from now Obama is looked at like GW by most. Even the people who hated GW the most can now admit overall he is a pretty good person. Politics is just heated.

 

Clinton's have brought on their disdain by their own actions. I do agree Obama should take a page out of GWB book and get out of the limelight for the most part. Let any anger die down.

[LIPTON BASH]

I am not trying to spark a debate, but think if every few days there was a news headline that read, "Drone strike kills 37 people in Chattanooga."

 

The point in the drone strikes is so we don't see those headlines.

[BirdBrain]

Collateral damage is not intentional, it is unfortunate. In the world we live in, we are all susceptible to an unintended attack at any place, any time....

 

I prefer to play offense and when I read or see reports like this I am not joyful, however, I do get some peace from knowing that we are at least doing something.

 

If, as a unified people, we do not recognize that there are very bad people trying to kill us and our way of life, we are doomed to die worrying about the mistakes of a war that many cannot understand.

[PurplePride92]

More of how Obama can't win. I hope the man enjoys a long retirement and begs his wife to stay out of the public life. He should look at what the Clintons have endured.

 

Agreed.

[Hatz]

I'm curious how many innocent casualties happen because the "enemy" is embedded deeply into "innocent areas," such as hospitals, schools and such. I have always hated the loss of innocent lives, even in war. But sometimes the "other side" brings it upon themselves by hiding with the innocent population.

[lawildcat]

Sorry; not sorry.