Man's Stupidity To Man

Conditions: Cold, Shitty

Uncaring

Why does this keep happening? In the Afghani-Pakistani border region this week, apparently operators of the American airborne hunter killers spotted what they believed were some high-priority terrorist targets driving along in a car, so they shot off a bunch of missiles at the car, missed and blew up a nearby tribal meeting, killing 40 people.

At least four militants in the vehicles were killed, local officials said. Most of the rest who died were elders, local traders and members of the tribal police.

"The world should try and find out how many of the 40-odd people killed in the drone attack were members of al-Qaeda," the elders said in their statement following the attack near North Waziristan's regional capital, Miranshah.

"It was just a jirga being held under local customs in which the prominent elders of Datta Khel sub-division, and common people were participating to resolve a dispute.

"But the Americans did not spare our elders even.

One of the elders, Malik Faridullah Wazir Khan, said he reached the scene 30 minutes after the missiles hit - four of his relatives were killed.

"The area was completely covered in blood," he told the BBC.

"There were no bodies, only body parts - hands, legs and eyes scattered around. I could not recognise anyone. People carried away the body parts in shopping bags and clothing or with bits of wood, whatever they could find."

He said 44 people died at the scene, including 13 children - one as young as seven.

- bbc.co.uk/

Of course this isn't the first time this has happened, it's not even the tenth. And yet despite that, nothing continues to be done about this. Quite the opposite, in fact as the ex-head of the CIA claims the war is being won thanks to the hunter killer units.

Former CIA director, Gen Michael Hayden, could not sing their praises loudly enough - although ironically the word "drone" cannot pass his lips, so sensitive and allegedly secret is the CIA's programme of targeted killings. How can a programme be secret when its results are plain for all to see?

Former director of the CIA Gen Michael Hayden Gen Hayden said the use of drones was an "inherent right" Gen Michael Hayden believed the results had been spectacular.

"A significant fraction of al-Qaeda senior leadership in the tribal region has been 'taken off the battlefield'," he said. "That used to mean 'killed or captured'. In the last couple of years it simply means killed. We just aren't doing any capturing."

Ironically the CIA's drone programme was greatly accelerated under President Obama who has authorised more than 160 Predator missions - four times as many as his predecessor, President George W Bush, targeting not just al-Qaeda but Taliban leaders also hiding in the border areas.

It remains unbelievable to me that in this day and age the American military operates a remote robot-driven assassination squad over a foreign country, totally out in the open and endorsed by the President, and nobody cares. And they say racism is dead.

Gen Hayden denied the attacks were state-authorised assassinations. He said the US was at war with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and was simply acting in self-defence. When I pointed out that legally the war was in Afghanistan not Pakistan, he said that was not how the American administration looked at it.

"No they're not assassinations. This is a war, this is action against opposing armed enemy force. This is an inherent right of America to self-defence.

Self Defense. See, this is the madness to which people have been driven in their fear. Apparently, in self defense it's okay to commit war crimes and lash out blindly at whoever you think is a threat. And if you happen to kill civilians or terrorist operatives, it doesn't matter because nobody ever goes and checks the bodies anyway.

Hundreds of civilians have been killed in the attacks, although it is impossible to put a precise figure on the number of innocent victims. It is estimated by the New America Foundation that between 2004 and 2010 they may represent around 25% of those killed.

Human rights lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic have grown increasingly concerned about the US government appearing to act as judge, jury and executioner. Jameel Jaffer of the American Council for Civil Liberties said: "This is quite an awesome power, the power to label somebody as an enemy [then] wipe them out without judicial process of any kind."

- bbc.co.uk/

This is never going to work. It's never going to get anywhere. And since America will not spend the billions to occupy the region, the only way America can win this war is by eventually negotiating a treaty with the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Therefore randomly blowing up people with drones is only making things worse. How long must we wait for common sense?


Film Review: The Adjustment Bureau

Yet another adaptation of a Phillip K Dick short story, the Adjustment Bureau stars Matt Damon and Emily Blunt and tells the story of an aspiring politician who meets a dancer, falls in love, and then is told by suit-wearing angels that he can never seen her again. The angels, though they hate that name, work for the "Chairman" upstairs, and wear hats that allow them to use ordinary doors to travel around cities very quickly, and carry books that map out peoples lives and the decisions they make. When a person is about to make a choice that doesn't fit with the "plan", the angels have to find a way to stop it. From spilling someones coffee so they miss a bus, to freezing time and wielding some kind of device that changes the thoughts in someones head.

Obviously we humans never see any of this, but when Matt Damon "accidentally" bumps into Emily Blunt again, this time on the bus, the angels are forced to reveal themselves to him and warn him to never see her again, because the two of them together is not in the plan. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and Matt is determined to find her once more. This film poses some interesting questions about fate and will, all woven into a quite believable romance between Matt and Emily. Their chemistry together is basically what sells the film, and it wouldn't have worked without them clicking so well.

With the help of one of the angels, Matt battles to find Emily again and change his fate. It's actually quite an enjoyable film, kind of old fashioned but a nice kind of old fashioned. Stylish rather than stuffy. You find yourself rooting for these characters and hoping for some kind of happy ending. And of course there is one on offer, but after two hours of discussions about the plan, and how humans can't have free will after you see what we do with it. an ending that essentially goes against all that tends to jar a little bit. When you set up rules in a movie, and then break them at the end in order to have a happy ending the audience may smile, but there is the sense that the film cheated a little bit to get there. Three hats out of Five.


- Peace out