Stephen Lendman

US terror-bombing by drones, warplanes and attack helicopters largely massacres civilians - on the phony pretext of combating ISIS and other jihadists America supports.

Obama’s drone war was lawless and despicable by any standard, picking up where Bush/Cheney left off, increasing the carnage they caused.

Rarely were so-called high-value targets hit, most often defenseless civilian men, women and children in harm’s way - massacred indiscriminately. Trump intends authorizing greater carnage in all US war theaters, supporting terrorists, not combating them, field commanders given greater latitude to attack targets at their discretion.

The CIA reportedly intends expanding its own drone warfare, unacknowledged covert operations.

Trump fooled no one aware of what’s going on, saying “the killers need to know they have nowhere to hide, that no place is beyond the reach of American might and American arms.”

The “killers” are US and allied dark forces waging war on humanity. Terror-bombing by drones and other means accomplishing the same objectives - continuing endless wars of aggression, massacring civilians indiscriminately, destroying vital infrastructure, rejecting conflict resolution efforts, and plotting new countries to smash.

Attack drones are instruments of state terror. Claims about precise, effective strikes on terrorists are malarkey. So is saying drone warfare makes America safer.

The Pentagon and CIA conceal the enormous harm on civilians from drone terror-bombing, including targeting rescuers, funerals, weddings, and other noncombatants.

Predator drones sanitize killing on the cheap. Secrecy and accountability aren’t addressed. Aggressive killing is official US policy, cold-blooded murder by any standard.

Obama lied claiming strikes are “targeted” and “focused,” Trump repeating the same deception. Bush/Cheney used drone warfare indiscriminately.

Obama accelerated their campaign, Trump intending greater terror-bombing by drones, extrajudicial slaughter. Will he expand it to new theaters?

Drones hover long hours over targeted countries, terrorizing civilians. Living with the threat of drone attacks raises constant fear of a deadly attack any time without notice, civilians powerless to protect themselves.

So-called double-tapping dissuades rescuers and bystanders from helping - the practice of striking targets multiple times in succession.

People in targeted areas are helpless on their own, strikes incinerating or blasting them into unidentifiable pieces, making traditional burials impossible.

Warfare by any means harms civilians most, US terror-bombing, ground operations, deaths by US-supported terrorists, starvation, preventable diseases and overall deprivation responsible for millions of casualties post-9/11 alone.

Rule of law principles don’t matter. Washington makes up its own. What country will Trump rape and destroy next? How many more children will he kill?

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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