General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A Note On 'Drone Strikes', Ladies And Gentlemen [View all]malthaussen
(17,183 posts)One difficulty presents itself to my eye in re drone strikes. Stipulating the "target" as an enemy combatant who may be reasonably treated with all the force our country can bring to bear, these combatants are embedded in localities under the administration of states with which we are not, in any sense, at war. Yet such strikes almost invariably kill citizens of those states in addition to the target, citizens to whom it is not always easy to attach a belligerent status. This is not comparable, say, to the strategic bombing of a city in a country with which we are at war, in which civilians might also be slain. Search my brain as I will, I can see no justification for killing the citizens of another country who have offered no insult towards myself or my country.
-- Mal