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Drone destruction

On May 29, The New York Times published an extraordinarily in-depth look at the intimate role President Barack Obama has played in authorising US drone attacks overseas, particularly in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

It is chilling to read the cold, macabre ease with which the president and his staff decide who will live or die.

The fate of people living thousands of miles away is decided by a group of Americans, elected and unelected, who don’t speak their language, don’t know their culture, don’t understand their motives or values.

While purporting to represent the world’s greatest democracy, US leaders are putting people on a hit list who are as young as 17, people who are given no chance to surrender, and certainly no chance to be tried in a court of law.

The world is outraged at the arrogance and cruelty of the CIA drone strikes killing entire families and burning innocent victims. Where is the world’s conscience?