U.S. Violating International Law

The United States has a new weapon in its arsenal -- unmanned flying drones that can be armed with missles or bombs and be used as an attack weapon. This is an excellent weapon that can be effective without endangering the lives of any pilots or soldiers. But it looks like the U.S. may be misusing this weapon and violating international law.

Since last August, these drones have been responsible for killing around 600 people in Pakistan. The problem is that many, if not most, of these people have been innocent civilians. United Nations human rights investigator Philip Alston wants the United States to legally justify the use of the attack drones in civilian areas.

Alston says, "My concern is that these drones, these Predators, are being operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law. 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."

The United States has tried to use as justification the fact that they are in an "armed conflict". But that excuse just won't fly for a couple of reasons. First, we are attacking Pakistan, and we are not in a war or "armed conflict" with that country. Second, attacking a known civilian area to get a few insurgents who may be hiding among innocent civilians is a war crime. It is the same type of war crime the Israelis are accused of committing in Gaza.

The drones are a good weapon, and can effectively be used against eemy troops in a battle zone. But it should never be used in areas where there are civilian noncombatants. This is no different than spraying a crowd of innocent people with machine gun fire, because we believe a criminal may be hiding in the crowd.

The United States must stop using these drone in this way. It is both immoral and illegal.