Stand Your Ground

Atlas regrets that you are on its 'must die' list
and hopes that you will continue to use our products
should you survive this encounter
--Borderlands
_________________

A moral dilemma:

If George Zimmerman is to be tried for 2nd degree murder, then what would be the correct charge for a drone-wielding joystick jockey who remotely kills an innocent person with a sophisticated Hellfire missile?


Mitigating factors:

No imminent harm was posed by the person killed, and the joy stick killer has pre-planning and intent, which qualifies his action as 1st degree murder.

One crop which the Reapers are sure to sow is hatred (Hatred: What Drones Sow). Jefferson Morely reports today in Salon:

The metrics are dismal. The advent of the drone war in Yemen has coincided with the growth of al-Qaida there. When the Obama administration began the strikes in December 2009, al-Qaida had 200-300 members and controlled no territory. Now White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan tells a group of New York cops that it has “more than 1,000″ members.

We should consider how well this crop will feed our nation's future.