President
Obama's inaugural speech last month was the voice of hypocrisy, The
Prince of Peace stated, and stated without a hint of embarrassment,
that “A decade of war is now ending,” --”We, the people, still
believe that enduring and lasting peace do not require perpetual
war.” What that translates into is, “We will not be sending so
many of you overseas to kill and maim, you will be able to do this
from a comfortable office in Nevada and Saudi Arabia.
We are
now seeing foreign invading troops preparing to leave Afghanistan
without having achieved their object, since nobody seems to be able
to say what was the object. That doesn't mean the end of the military
campaign, the war will continue from computer screens in the form of
drones. According to a report from the area of North Waziristan,
from 2008 to 1012, there have been around 147 drone strikes, killing
894 people with 211 injured. This year has seen an escalation in the
number of drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen.
The
face of imperialist wars is changing, weapon laden armour plated
boots will still be called on to do some of the dirty work, but this
will be their cleaning up operations. The real slaughter will be done
by young smooth faced office workers, sitting at their desks marking
up scores on hits, just like any other computer game. Only this time
it is for real, real bodies being blown to bits, real children dying,
real homes being demolished. No need to be a battle hardened trained
killer, you can make you way up the military ladder by having the
highest score of hits in the office.
Just
to encourage those 9 to 5 office work killers and make them feel part
of the “hero” brigade, they are considering creating a medal for
the cyber-killers. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta recently announced
that the Pentagon is creating a medal that can be awarded to troops
who have a direct impact on combat operations, but do it well away
from any combat zone.
To
those on the receiving end of drone warfare, the result is just as
bloody, destructive and terrifying as any other type of warfare.
There is no such thing as clean humane warfare. Drones of course
sanitise it for the perpetrators of that destructive violence. You
can kill from 9 to 5 and then go home to your family and have a night
out. This is the new imperialist warfare. In an interview Secretary
of Defence Leon Panetta. Asked
by journalist Martha Raddatz whether the 2014 pullout of U.S.
troops from Afghanistan would mean an increased reliance on drones,
Panetta said: “ I think that's reality. We've done that in
Pakistan. We're doing it in Yemen and elsewhere. And I think the
reality is it's going to be a continuing tool of national defense in
the future.”
There is a ready trained army of computer literate kids, experts at
computer games all well able to spend a few hours a day playing their
game and getting paid and walking away as if it were “just a game”.
It is a frightening thought, but it is our future, unless we do something to change the system.
