It May Seem Painless, But The Drone War In Afghanistan Is Destroying The West's Reputation
Supporters of drones – and they make up practically the entire respectable political establishment in Britain and the US – argue that they are indispensable in the fight against al-Qaeda. But plenty of very experienced voices have expressed profound qualms. The former army officer David Kilcullen, one of the architects of the 2007 Iraqi surge, has warned that drone attacks create more extremists than they eliminate. Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, Britain’s former special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is equally adamant that drone attacks are horribly counter-productive because of the hatred they have started to generate: according to a recent poll, more than two thirds of Pakistanis regard the United States as an enemy. Britain used to be popular and respected in this part of the world for our wisdom and decency. Now, thanks to our refusal to challenge American military doctrine, we are hated, too.
During the 80’s when terrorists had Irish accents, Maggie Thatcher used the SAS to help put down the IRA. They reported back that for every terrorist they killed, there was a father, brother or son ready to replace them. Nothing was ever as effective at fighting terrorism than arresting people and putting them in jail. The emotional shock and sense of injustice anyone would feel when seeing a loved one killed (no matter if you’re on the wrong side) pushes them to act out against the killer, an arrest doesn’t have that same emotional element and so a movement loses momentum. Now with this faceless drone war, the sense of injustice is even worse and The West is proving to be its own worst enemy, perpetuating the war on terror with its own actions.
