Devin's Blog # 2 Modern Warfare: The use of drones on the battlefield

Well it is has been about a few days since The US Government put out the hit on American born Anwar al-Awlaki and successfully executed him in Yemen. There are many viewpoints on this issue such as was it a good thing to use drone attacks on terrorists? Did the President overstep his boundaries, not only constitutionally with not giving an American citizen a trial and internationally by bombing in countries that we are not at war with? These questions have led to many opinions and debate. My opinion is that drone attacks, although useful so that US soldiers won't be killed or used to lessen casualties, is going to create more wars and continue to create American hatred around the world. Many countries that we use drones in such as in Yemen, Libya, and other Middle Eastern countries is breaking international law by bombing in a countries' territory and creating wars that are not officially declared. Drones could have the opposite effect that the Atom Bomb had, that instead of hastening the desire to go to war, Drones would make it an easier option to just bomb an individual or individuals without the effect of actually destroying a whole city. Drones are being used on countries that are defenseless against them and this has to be questioned, how does one distinguishes terrorist from civilian? The result is probably many civilian casualties. The Military Defense budget is already overextended to the point that it is causing a deficit, money that could be used to create better education, jobs, infrastructure, modern mass transportation, and a health care system just to name a few. As for the terrorists and Awlaki, why is the government's position just to kill them? Shouldn't they be put on trial? Why is it that the American people are for this? Shouldn't we prove that we have a better system of justice than killing? To use an example, John Adams, the second President of the United States, defended the British soldiers who fired on the Bostonian people in the Boston Massacre. This was a brave decision to take the case and to defend the British because the people just wanted to find them guilty and hang them, case over, but John Adams decided that they should be given a trial, so the soldiers could defend themselves in court without a mock trial and execution and to show that the people of Boston were better than this form of justice. It is time that the United States owns up to what it preaches around the world about our system of justice.