The Obama administration nowadays spearheading an international campaign against Libya for, what President Obama says, “to stop violence again civilians” by Moammar Gadhafi.
Apparently, stopping violence against civilian is such a step that no one would oppose it. But the action should be across the board and without any discrimination. When Israel commits crimes against the civilian of Ghaza and continues to do so with the backing of US administration. What a hypocrisy and double standard!
A recent disclosure of US defence department further exposed the US hierocracy. While Obama talks of saving civilians in Libya, information about innocents killed by US drones attack in Pakistan are kept secret or even did not considered to be worthy of counting or keeping their record.
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against US President Barack Obama, demanding legal basis for America’s deadly drone attacks overseas.
The lawsuit requests essential information on the fatalities of drone strikes and other information essential for judging the legality of using armed drones to carry out targeted killings.
“The public has a right to know whether the targeted killings being carried out in its name are consistent with international law and with the country’s interests and values,” Jonathan Manes, a legal fellow with the ACLU National Security Project aid.
“The Obama administration should disclose basic information about the program, including its legal basis and limits, and the civilian casualty toll thus far,” he added.
In response to the lawsuit, the US Defense Department has disclosed that it does not compile statistics about the total number of civilians killed in it drone strikes.
According to the defence department, the military’s estimates of civilian casualties do not distinguish between deaths caused by remote-controlled drones and those caused by other aircraft. While each drone strike appears to be subject to an individual assessment after the fact, there is no total number of casualties compiled. Moreover, information contained in the individual assessments is classified – making it impossible for the public to learn how many civilians have been killed overall.
Many significant details about the use of drones by both the military and the CIA are shrouded in secrecy. The CIA, for its part, has entirely refused to respond to the ACLU’s request for information about the drone strikes in Pakistan. Now we also know that the Defense Department does not keep a tally of civilians killed by drones.
According to data compiled by private think tanks, more than 80 percent people killed in the US drone strikes are civilian. Just in 2010, more than 700 people were in killed in over 100 drone attack carried out by US in tribal belt of the country. 80 percent of the people killed in these attacks, as per the data compiled by an Islamabad based think tank, are civilian. Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan has stated on the record that over 80 percent people killed in these drone attacks are civilian. But the US even did not keep the record of the civilian casualties. What a height of double standard! By Ali Hussain
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