In a letter to the New York Times published last Wednesday, South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu challenged the hypocrisy of the U.S. and its citizens for accepting a killer drone program when it pertains to foreign suspects while demanding judicial review when those targets are American citizens, reports Lauren McCauley, staff writer from Common Dreams.
From the New York Times:
I am deeply, deeply disturbed at the suggestion in “A Court to Vet Kill Lists” (news analysis, front page, Feb. 9) that possible judicial review of President Obama’s decisions to approve the targeted killing of suspected terrorists might be limited to the killings of American citizens.
Do the United States and its people really want to tell those of us who live in the rest of the world that our lives are not of the same value as yours? That President Obama can sign off on a decision to kill us with less worry about judicial scrutiny than if the target is an American? Would your Supreme Court really want to tell humankind that we, like the slave Dred Scott in the 19th century, are not as human as you are? I cannot believe it.
I used to say of apartheid that it dehumanized its perpetrators as much as, if not more than, its victims. Your response as a society to Osama bin Laden and his followers threatens to undermine your moral standards and your humanity.
DESMOND M. TUTU
Aboard MV Explorer, near Hong Kong Feb. 11, 2013
The writer, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize, is archbishop emeritus of Cape Town.
March 4, 2013 at 5:50 pm
A US colleague asked me very sincerely after 911, “Why do they hate us so much?” That he had to ask that question perhaps revealed part of the answer to be lack of understanding by the citizens of the USA. The Drone attacks could now be included as part of the response to the question. And, we Canadians may have find ourselves asking the same question if we continue on our current course toward becoming a “Warrior Nation” even with our own Drones.
February 28, 2013 at 10:21 am
Desmond Tutu speaks the Truth-violence only begets violence. Wake up America and wake up Stephen Harper!! Using these drones is immoral and must be stopped NOW.
February 28, 2013 at 10:17 am
Being a citizen of a country used to mean a great deal. Measures and laws were passed to enhance the level of respect and protection of citizens. Constitutions were the arbiters for any legal decisions. Now bilateral trade agreements appear to use lawsuits as a means to check these constitutional powers of citizenry through the supremacy of shareholder/investor mechanisms. Leaders no longer feel as beholden to the public good, on the contrary they seem emboldened to ignore the time the time tested safeguards of the democratic process. Secrecy is the word and method most used leaving a public confused and muffled. No one can talk about, or to redacted initiatives. The democratic process appears more as a charade of going through the motions. Policies can simply be pronounced with guarded or limited explanations.
March 3, 2013 at 1:37 pm
It is the one and only way for the New World Order to survive, ensure citizens have absolutely no recourse for what technocrats / securocrats installed in our respective Governments are doing to undermine Democracy in favour of a One World Order.
The UK currently is taking UK born citizens rights from them then turfing them out of the country, then telling the US where they are so they can be droned, at least three people have had this done to them. with more to come. When any Government can strip you of your citizenship in the country of birth we really are on a downhhill slippery slope.
February 28, 2013 at 8:19 am
The fact that the Harper Government is allowing or permitting its Ministry of Defense even to consider acquisition of drone fighters should be opposed vigorously by all of us. Given the close alignment of Canada’s military with the US military, it is not surprising that this is now happening, but it is morally and economically deeply repugnant. It is well known that the majority of Canadians do not electorally or in polls support many of the policies of this Government but, because there are four other parties in the Commons, the `majority’ Conservatives are doing what they like, even if it is different from or contrary to the views of most Canadians. On this issue let us speak up loudly and clearly and say NO.
February 27, 2013 at 1:25 pm
Desmond Tutu’s opinion carries great weight, internationally. The U.S. State Department owes him a prompt and unequivocal answer, but is unlikely to do so. By asking the value of a life, Tutu likewise questions all war, which is about killing. “Just War,” questions have troubled mankind for centuries. The defense of National Sovereignty is one of the immorally evasive responses to this moral question.