Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Blast U.S. Drone Strikes

I believe there are a couple different sub forums this could have been placed in, so if someone feels the need to move then by all means do so.Now there really isn't much to say that hasn't already been said in regards to the drone program, but there is one thing out of this article that seems very telling.

Second, there is little political incentive in the U.S. government to further declassify drone policy, and there are virtually no political consequences for the Obama Administration continuing as they have for years. Polls show Americans have few qualms with the U.S. deploying drones overseas. Until that changes, Foust says, “none of the other calls for redress or openness will come to pass.” Read more: world.time.com...

And then this

The images, the report describes, “show the men’s bodies charred and in pieces,” and relatives had to identify them by what remained of body parts and bits of clothing. “Now when villagers see these images,” one relative said, “they think of America.”

TIME It is up to Americans to realize that these actions reflect upon themselves. It is also up to Americans to ensure that some kind of redress is available for any people, American or foreign, who have had innocent family members killed. The fact that things like this happen and very few even bat an eyelash is unacceptable. Furthermore, this is totalitarian ladies and gentlemen. This is the power of life and death with no recourse for innocents involved. It doesn't matter if it's Bush, Obama, or the tooth fairy it needs to be corrected. You can't kill innocent people around the world and never expect a violent reaction at some point.

We are led to believe the drones only kill terrorists. Bad guys. Politicians say, through the media, the occasional innocent casualties are an acceptable cost of protecting our freedom.

And the American majority believe what they are told by the media.

IMO, the media is controlled by the government.

Until the damage they do become front page news, drones will be a fact of life...

They definitely like to keep the "collateral" damage quiet. Here's an example of the US actively trying to prevent the issue from coming to light.

Pakistani drone victims' lawyer accuses US of blocking his visit to Congress

The US government is being accused of derailing a congressional hearing that would be the first to hear testimony from survivors of an alleged CIA drone strike by failing to grant the family's lawyer a visa.

www.theguardian.com...

reply to post by Maluhia
From your source.

Florida congressman Alan Grayson, who helped spearhead the effort to bring the Rehman family to the US, told the Guardian that the state department had not given "a specific reason as to why [Akbar]'s having trouble getting in". "I don't know why the State Department has taken this action, but I think it's extremely important that when it comes to a national security matter like drone attacks, we hear not only from the proponents of these attacks, but also from the victims," Grayson said.

At least there is somebody in an official capacity trying to right the wrong. I've always had a lot of respect for Alan Grayson.

reply to post by GD21D


S+F OP. This issue needs to get more attention.

Once more pluggin my thread on the topic: Out of Sight, Out of Mind.
(Its about a HTML5 visualization that lists all victims of every known drone strike in Pakistan since 2004).

Less than 2% of U.S. Drone Strike victims are high-profile targets. The rest are civilians, children and alleged combatants. (The Obama administration classifies any able-bodied male a military combatant unless evidence is brought forward to prove otherwise.)



Sources:

Covert Drone War (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

Living Under Drones (Stanford International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic)