Obama's 2nd Term: More of the Same

Dear Mr. President,

Today, Haider Khel and Hasookhel in North Waziristan: 8 killed, 4 wounded, suspected militants, identities unknown. Yesterday, 17 killed in South Waziristan, identities unknown. Saturday, 12 militant fighters killed in Babar Ghar in northwest Pakistan. Last Thursday an Al Qaeda leader and 2 associates killed in Yemen and the day before that 2 separate strikes in Waziristan killed at least 9. All were drone strikes by the CIA that you authorized. 49 people murdered, their blood on your hands. Announced tonight, your personal Rasputin, John Brennan’s nomination as the next CIA chief. Maybe the spike in drone strikes is Mr. Brennan flaunting his cojones so his nomination will sail through the warhawk Congress. Unlike Hagel who might have a problem getting the nod for Secretary of Defense. (Personally, I’d like Medea Benjamin as Defense Secretary.) It’s hard to get an accurate count but at least 35 missiles were fired in the above-named strikes. At $60,000 per missile, that’s at least $2.1 million which works out to $42,857 per kill. It seems to me, Mr. President, that we could make more friends and get more bang for the buck by just giving these people $42,857 each to stop shooting at us. Of course, that means we’d have to stop shooting at them too, which ain’t such a bad idea and saves even more. Drones seemed evil when I first heard about them and I haven’t changed my opinion. They’re the ultimate weapon of terrorists, circling overhead for days on end, unseen but heard—“like a lawnmower in the sky”— and suddenly without warning, boom! a Hellfire missile deals death and destruction. There’s no way to protect against drones, no way to fight back, an invisible enemy. Our victims are like bugs under a microscope, helpless. Even their death is referred to as Bug Splat. No matter if you’re a militant or an innocent, drones terrorize everyone equally—men, women and children—and anyone within range is a potential target. Anne Applebaum’s Iron Curtain details how the USSR used selective violence in eastern Europe right after WWII to quell resistance and it occurred to me that that’s exactly what we’re doing today in the Middle East. The terrorism and wars of aggression we denounced in the 1930s, 40s and 50s is not all that different from the wars of aggression, terrorism and violence America uses on “Islamist militants” in the Middle East. Many hoped in your second term you’d do the right thing, but it’s already clear, it’s just more of the same.