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	<title>thelobbyist &#187; Predator drones</title>
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		<title>Surprise- UN Official Criticizes United States Policy</title>
		<link>http://thelobbyist.net/lobby/archives/1930</link>
		<comments>http://thelobbyist.net/lobby/archives/1930#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:56:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dustin Siggins</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Shorts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ed Morrisey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Predator drones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UN]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thelobbyist.net/?p=1930</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[According to Yahoo News,?&#8220;US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN&#8217;s top investigator of such crimes said.&#8221; UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Philip Alston?has now decided the United States&#8217; Predator drone strikes?might be?&#8221;?operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>According to <em><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091028/wl_afp/unpakistanafghanistanusmissilerights">Yahoo News</a>,?</em>&#8220;US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in <span id="lw_1256700039_0">Afghanistan</span> and <span id="lw_1256700039_1" style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">Pakistan</span> could be breaking <span id="lw_1256700039_2" style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed">international laws</span> against <span id="lw_1256700039_3" style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">summary executions</span>, the UN&#8217;s top investigator of such crimes said.&#8221; UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Philip Alston?has now decided the United States&#8217; Predator drone strikes?might be?&#8221;?operated in a framework which may well violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law.?</p>
<p>In the article, concerns about how many people the United States is killing with drones is Alston&#8217;s main concern. Note to Alston: we are trying to kill terrorists- the same people who want to violate (and do violate) international law all the time by targeting civilians <em>as their sole goal</em>. Meanwhile, Ed Morrisey at HotAir.com noted that <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2009/10/28/un-calls-missile-strikes-summary-executions/">Alston makes no distinction </a>about the hundreds of civilian deaths versus the many terrorist deaths the drones have caused. Instead, he is worried about?America being willing to open up about the program, and saying,?&#8221;&#8216;OK, we&#8217;re willing to discuss some aspects of this program.&#8217;&#8221; Alston also says that without the opening up by American officials, &#8220;&#8230;you have the really problematic bottom line that the CIA is running a program that is killing significant numbers of people and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws.&#8221;"</p>
<p>A couple of questions for Alston: first, since when are we supposed to capture and put through a fair trial civilian-targeting terrorists? It&#8217;s not like they come peacefully. Secondly, WHAT international law? There are no international laws regarding how to kill terrorists, as far as I know, because the UN lacks judicial and regulatory power <em>and </em>has no real authority given its positions and non-resistance against terrorists and their supporting nations (Iran, anyone?). If the individual countries we enter have an issue (such as Pakistan), it can be taken up with America on a bilateral basis. Let&#8217;s hope President Obama doesn&#8217;t listen to this fool.</p>
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