Drones are like vigilantes or lynching parties — lawless and cowardly. They use brute power to kill the powerless. The powerful choose who is right and who is wrong; the powerless have no ability to defend themselves with arms or due process. Oh, sometimes the killers make mistakes, but their intentions are pure, aren't they?
In "Living Under Drones," Stanford University's drone experts write: "Drones hover 24 hours a day over communities ... striking homes, vehicles and public places without warning. Their presence terrorizes men, women, and children ....[who] face the constant worry that a deadly strike may be fired at any moment, and the knowledge that they are powerless to protect themselves."
Where do drones hover? In Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Mali — poverty-ridden, weak Third-World nations from whom we don't have to worry about retaliation, over terror suspects who have no defensive arms, no chance to say, "Wait, let's talk, maybe I'm innocent." Or, "Wait, this is a wedding party, not a terrorist meeting."
No wonder drone strikes recruit more terrorists than they kill. Yet, meanwhile, the president bravely aims drones at America's nameless foes in a nameless war.
The foundation of American civilization is the rule of law. To date, four drone victims were American citizens. President Barack Obama justified executing American Anwar Awlaki without due process because he was a long-time terrorist. He did not mention the drone killing of Mr. Awlaki's innocent teenage son. Press secretary Robert Gibbs justified this death by saying the boy "should have had a far more responsible father." These actions trample the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of due process for all citizens.
In 1992, the U.S. ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which outlawed extra-territorial attacks by any country. While America claims that this prohibition does not apply to drone use in the "War on Terror," the U.N. says drone strikes violate the legal and human rights of victims.
While Congress in 2001 did say America must pursue the perpetrators of 9/11, today's drone victims are not those perpetrators. Congress must take a stand on America's current illegal and immoral drone killings.
During April and May, there will be lobbying, rallies and protests by "we the people" to speak out on this disturbing, secret war and its violations of international and national law. Americans need to tell Obama his drone warfare is un-American.