US drone 'kills five in Pakistan'

[Peter Lemkin]

The elephant in the room of US policy in this area is the simple fact that any military strike kills innocents along with "bad guys." The "hearts and minds" of those whose loved ones are murdered by these sorties are not likely to be "won."

The vast majority of those who have been willing to express an opinion in Iraq and Afghanistan believe the United States military presence to be the main force responsible for their current misery. Every wedding party we bomb creates that many more "terrorists."

This seemingly endless circle of military action and "anti-American extremism" will continue as long as the United States proceeds on a policy of imperial dominion in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Chevronistan, ...all the "Stans."

The current administration policy of picking up the "killing fields" from Iraq and moving them into Afghanistan/Pakistan cannot achieve the stated objectives. Over one million Iraqis have been sent to heaven as a result of past policies. Future escalation in Afghanistan will result in a comparable amount of death.

Hatred of America will (understandably) grow even more intense. The only policy that has a chance of restoring our tattered image (not to mention our tattered national souls...) is that of a principled disengagement from these exercises in imperial power.

Let us hope and cajole, but let's not hold our breath...

I don't know that anyone has made an accounting of [even purported] badguys v. innocents killed, but my sense is it is about 1 to 20, or so. Those that play these video 'games' are trained to not think of it as murder of innocents and to think of anyone not American, not white, not Christian, not speaking English, not someone who would welcome a World dominated by American Corporations and Financiers as expendable collateral damage [even the term dehumanizes]. Yes it is all about Empire and Imperial Oligarchic thinking. Shame. These people running America do NOT want to give Peace a chance. They WANT Wars and they WANT megadeath - it makes them rich and powerful and [in a sick way] replaces their spiritual negativity with the usual - violence for love and compassion....hate for help......the domination paradigm for the cooperation paradigm. Now you know why they killed the 60s and the 60s leaders.