It is worrying, then, that Mr. Obama's choice to head the CIA is John O. Brennan, deputy national security advisor, a man who calls drone targets "cancerous tumors." No wonder kids in places like Yemen are afraid to go to school and people think twice before attending weddings or funerals that might be mistaken for a gang of plotters.
Writing in the Guardian in January, Simon Jenkins sounded this alarm: "The greatest threat to world peace"is from drones and their certain proliferation. " Drones are now sweeping the global arms market [with] some 10,000 said to be in service"some reports say they have killed more non-combatant civilians than died in 9-11."
The threat of serious backlash looms. A Yemeni writer told The New York Times that al Qaeda recruiters "wave pictures of drone-butchered women and children." National membership of Al Qaeda in Yemen is now three times larger than it was in 2009.
If that doesn't worry you consider this: last February President Obama signed a law compelling the FAA to allow drone use for commercial endeavors in this country. These uses range from selling real estate to dusting crops and monitoring wildlife. Hollywood may even use drones to film and local police will be freer to deploy flying robots. While drone manufacturers drool, safety concerns increase.
I understand that drones, used with an abundance of caution for selective anti-terrorism operations, backed by stringent legislation, may be a necessary part of our arsenal. But I can't get the picture of those innocent children out of my mind. And no one should have to fear going to school, attending a wedding or mourning at a funeral, especially when the one being buried is a child.
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