The Drones’ True Damage

[The Northerner]

PARIS — If a reporter learns anything from covering conflict it is that distant assumptions are routinely wrong.

Fresh assessments in the United States say drone missiles are a good idea. That is not how it looks at the receiving end.

Soon after 9/11, I found a father in Kabul staring in despair at a crater where, moments earlier, his daughter had been playing. An American drone had swooped in and missed its target, the nearby airport.

He saw what had happened, a tragic mistake, and he could work out his response to fate. I think of him when drones take such unintended victims a decade and some later. Rather than resigned closure, there is lasting hatred.

Vietnam made it clear that ideological wars are not won from the air. With their body counts, generals in Washington assured they were winning by attrition. In fact, they stiffened resolve among civilians along with combatants.

Read more: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/the-drones-true-damage/

[msongs]

1. obama thinks his killing people is good. there are others who disagree nt