TARGETING AND KILLING TERRORISTS WITH DRONE CRAFT IS NO UN “WAR CRIME”
June 14, 2010
Ten more Islamist terrorists — this time belonging to the Taliban — were killed by Predator drones in Pakistan’s North Waziristan on Friday, just days after a similar attack took out al Qaeda’s No. 3.
But as far as the United Nations is concerned, both strategic assaults constitute war crimes.
Looks like the timid titans of Turtle Bay are up to their old tricks.
A recent UN Human Rights Council report slammed Washington for its use of CIA-directed unmanned drones to root out terrorist havens in Pakistan.
Philip Alston, the UN’s special investigator on extrajudicial executions, complained of the US asserting “an ever-expanding entitlement for itself to target individuals across the globe.”
Not surprisingly, he called for a halt to the drones — saying that targeted killings not within the immediate confines of a specific battlefield are “almost never likely to be legal.”
Well, the random killing of thousands of innocents in New York, Madrid and London wasn’t “legal,” either. Now the drones are targeting the architects of that slaughter.
Curiously, Alston’s report came barely 48 hours after news broke that a US drone had killed al Qaeda kingpin Mustafa al-Yazid in Pakistan last month.
Coincidence?
Regardless, it’s absurd for the UN to imply the US is acting illegally in taking out murderous al Qaeda thugs.
Yes, the drones have killed civilians, as well. But, tragic as that might be, the fault lies with the terrorists who intentionally hide among non-combatants — deliberately putting them at risk.
The drones have proven increasingly successful in degrading al Qaeda’s leadership structure in recent years — and thus, its ability to plan and execute mass-terror attacks.
What has the UN done?
Washington has no reason to apologize — and no need to change its tactics.
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