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Has Warfare Technology Outpaced International Law?
I have not researched either the law or uses the military is using for the drones in recent attacks in Afghanistan, but saw a report today that the U.N. has warned the
U.S. *shaking in boots* that it may be violating international law in regard to using drones to direct assassination strikes against Taliban leaders in the war.
Without the answers (and of course the news source did nothing really to educate the reader on the topic) my reaction is to shrug - so what? How do you differentiate the moral acceptability of using a drone to strike a singular target for the purpose of killing a specific individual versus dropping a bomb on the same house to the same effect except that the bomb would potentially kill dozens of innocents?
That's all I got - anyone reading care to weigh in?
the article :
updated 8:58 a.m. ET, Wed., Oct . 28, 2009
UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. human rights investigator warned the United States Tuesday that its use of unmanned warplanes to carry out targeted executions may violate international law.
Philip Alston said that unless the Obama administration explains the legal basis for targeting particular individuals and the measures it is taking to comply with international humanitarian law which prohibits arbitrary executions, "it will increasingly be perceived as carrying out indiscriminate killings in violation of international law."
Alston, the U.N. Human Rights Council's investigator on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, raised the issue of U.S. Predator drones in a report to the General Assembly's human rights committee and at a news conference afterwards, saying he has become increasingly concerned at the dramatic increase in their use, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan, since June.
He said the U.S. response — that the Geneva-based council and the General Assembly have no role in relation to killings during an armed conflict — "is simply untenable."
"That would remove the great majority of issues that come before these bodies right now," Alston said. "The onus is really on the government of the United States to reveal more about the ways in which it makes sure that arbitrary executions, extrajudicial executions are not, in fact, being carried out through the use of these weapons."
Alston's warning comes as President Barack Obama is weighing how to overhaul the U.S. approach to the Afghan conflict.
Alston, a law professor at New York University, said that while there may be circumstances where the use of drones "to carry out targeted executions" is consistent with international law, this can only be determined in light of information on the legal basis for selecting certain individuals.
"What we need then is the U.S. to be more up front and say 'OK, we're prepared to discuss some aspects of this program,'" he said.
Alston said the U.S. should provide details on use of drones, disclose what precautions it takes to ensure the unmanned aircraft are used strictly for purposes consistent with international humanitarian law, and what measures exist to evaluate what happened when their weapons have been used.
"Otherwise, you have the really problematic bottom line — which is that the Central Intelligence Agency is running a program which is killing significant numbers of people, and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws," he said.
U.S. *shaking in boots* that it may be violating international law in regard to using drones to direct assassination strikes against Taliban leaders in the war.
Without the answers (and of course the news source did nothing really to educate the reader on the topic) my reaction is to shrug - so what? How do you differentiate the moral acceptability of using a drone to strike a singular target for the purpose of killing a specific individual versus dropping a bomb on the same house to the same effect except that the bomb would potentially kill dozens of innocents?
That's all I got - anyone reading care to weigh in?
the article :
updated 8:58 a.m. ET, Wed., Oct . 28, 2009
UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. human rights investigator warned the United States Tuesday that its use of unmanned warplanes to carry out targeted executions may violate international law.
Philip Alston said that unless the Obama administration explains the legal basis for targeting particular individuals and the measures it is taking to comply with international humanitarian law which prohibits arbitrary executions, "it will increasingly be perceived as carrying out indiscriminate killings in violation of international law."
Alston, the U.N. Human Rights Council's investigator on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, raised the issue of U.S. Predator drones in a report to the General Assembly's human rights committee and at a news conference afterwards, saying he has become increasingly concerned at the dramatic increase in their use, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan, since June.
He said the U.S. response — that the Geneva-based council and the General Assembly have no role in relation to killings during an armed conflict — "is simply untenable."
"That would remove the great majority of issues that come before these bodies right now," Alston said. "The onus is really on the government of the United States to reveal more about the ways in which it makes sure that arbitrary executions, extrajudicial executions are not, in fact, being carried out through the use of these weapons."
Alston's warning comes as President Barack Obama is weighing how to overhaul the U.S. approach to the Afghan conflict.
Alston, a law professor at New York University, said that while there may be circumstances where the use of drones "to carry out targeted executions" is consistent with international law, this can only be determined in light of information on the legal basis for selecting certain individuals.
"What we need then is the U.S. to be more up front and say 'OK, we're prepared to discuss some aspects of this program,'" he said.
Alston said the U.S. should provide details on use of drones, disclose what precautions it takes to ensure the unmanned aircraft are used strictly for purposes consistent with international humanitarian law, and what measures exist to evaluate what happened when their weapons have been used.
"Otherwise, you have the really problematic bottom line — which is that the Central Intelligence Agency is running a program which is killing significant numbers of people, and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws," he said.
No come backs - come on beeeeek!
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