Slashdot Mirror
ACLU Sues Over Legality of "Targeted Killing" By Drones
MacAndrew writes "The ACLU has sued the United States Government to enforce a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for 'the release of records relating to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles — commonly known as 'drones' — for the purpose of targeting and killing individuals since September 11, 2001.' (Complaint.) The information sought includes the legal basis for use of the drones, how the program is managed, and the number of civilian deaths in areas of operation such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. The ACLU further claims that 'Recent reports, including public statements from the director of national intelligence, indicate that US citizens have been placed on the list of targets who can be hunted and killed with drones.' Aside from one's view of the wisdom, effectiveness, and morality of these military operations, the inclusion of US citizens suggests that summary remote-control executions are becoming routine. Especially given the difficulty in locating and targeting individuals from aircraft, risks of human and machine error are obvious, and these likely increase as the robots become increasingly autonomous (please no Skynet jokes). This must give pause to anyone who's ever spent time coding or debugging or even driving certain willful late model automobiles, and the US government evidently doesn't want to discuss it."
I'm not entirely sure they can sue this due to jurisdiction issues.
Plus they are the American Civil Liberties Union, Not only are the targets NOT american, the dont really have Civil Liberties either.
Im assuming the pilots behind the UAVs have target criteria, and need to provide evidence of said criteria to receive permission to eliminate the target.
Excuse me for the muslims to not respect the geneva convention, not be uniformed, and the fact they take pleasure in hiding behind their families or neighbors, sick, injured or children. When a few individuals fire at you from a crowded market, you want me to just sit there and deal with being shot at and possibly die, FU ACLU.
Also, whats the word we can take from those countries that they were actually civilians? Someone carrying a gun is militia, someone who died carrying a gun was a soldier, but in the time it takes to get a team in there to confirm kills, those guns disappear and now proof of militia is gone and so they are just civilians now. I doubt the Civilian casualties are actually as high as they are perceived. I think it usually is militia, but someone else picks up the gun and takes their place.
Im a troll because I disagree with you.
Yeah .. that's it. We'll just ask for ID cards proving citizenship before we shoot back at someone.
If you are specifically targeting someone, you already have identified them. Targeting isn't a case of getting into a gunfight with someone, killing him, then finding out he's John Doe, US Citizen. It's saying "John Doe, US Citizen, must die. Let's send in the drones to blow up his car."
I am not a crackpot.