bugsplat derby

see note for reviewers.

in a cozy office in the US,

maybe at langley, or

creech air force base,

north of vegas,

there is an officer watching video

feeds of suspected targets in

“afghanistan, pakistan, bosnia, serbia, iraq, yemen,

libya & somalia,”

just to name a few.

 

this officer is piloting

unmanned aerial vehicles,

which operate by remote control,

allowing her/him to suspend these

drones

(interestingly named

“mq-1 predators” & “mq-9 reapers”)

for 18 hours in the air,

hovering in a manner that no manned

aircraft can,

in what the CIA terms

“an unblinking stare,”

this supposedly allows the officer who is

waiting,

to select the most opportune time to fire its

hellfire missles,

therefore minimalizing the

collateral damage due to the precision of

the attack &

a successful elimination of a target is referred to

by the CIA as a

“bugsplat.”

 

this “secret” drone program,

initiated in 2004 by the CIA,

has allowed the US to kill 2,551 people

in their bugsplat derby---

think tanks

like the new america foundation

in washington say that

the majority of those killed have been

targeted militants,

yet when civilians were polled,

a suspiciously different story was revealed as

“only 16% believe that drones accurately

target militants.”

 

with 118 attacks last year in pakistan &

50 already in 2011,

mr. obama & co. are facing

questions of the ethical nature of drone attacks---

many feel that it is ok to use drones for surveillance,

but when they are used for attacks,

the killing of innocent civilians is not held accountable in the

same fashion as regular warfare,

concerning the military chain of command,

not to mention that the supposed “rules” of

war are violated

when the officer in their comfortable office

needs to take a piss,

knowing that in a few minutes,

said target will be out in the open and ready for a

precise, low-to-no-civilian-casualty bugsplat,

but,

instead of waiting,

they push the button & then get up to run to the

restroom,

coming back after lunch to see what damage has been

done---

just like they were at home playing call of duty.

Author's Note

In the future, basic training in the military will consist of sitting down at a game console to show them your chops, then subsequently being pumped full of drugs that will keep you awake 24/7 so that you can keep your eyes peeled when operating the drones---push-ups & sit-ups will be a thing of the past.