WASHINGTON (CNS) — The United States’ use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to hunt down suspected terrorists deserves a wide-scale public discussion, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.
Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, raised a series of ethical and moral questions regarding the use of drones in places such as Pakistan and Yemen in detailed two-page letters to Thomas E. Donilon, national security adviser, and the chairs of several House and Senate committees dealing with national security, foreign relations, intelligence and government oversight.
In the correspondence, Bishop Pates also called upon the U.S. officials to “exercise leadership in advancing international norms, standards and restrictions” on the use of drones and called for greater scrutiny of their use.
He suggested that American counter-terrorism policy should “employ non-military assets to build peace through respect for human rights and addressing underlying injustices that terrorists unscrupulously exploit.”…
I believe that unmanned aerial vehicles should be banned from military/espionage activity. U.S. policy/ intervention be it land or air, should not be taking place. However, we are up against more that just U.S. foreign policy. We are fighting the Shell and Mobile Corporations and their “strategic” oil interests that we want protected. The “search for and execution of Bin Laden” in my opinion reflects a tragic lack of cross cultural understanding/communication and diplomacy from the United States. Recently I watched the film Zero Dark 30 and was sickened by the treatment given to the prisoners. If the movie accurately reflects the reality, we are severely violating their human rights. As a US citizen I object to my tax dollars being used for military gain and would like to see a copy of the letter Bishop Pates sent to the national security adviser and others.