Death by drone

Somewhere in international waters, close to the Pakistani coast, a Predator drone is launched from the USS Abraham Lincoln. The pilotless craft heads up over the beaches of Balochistan, and points its snout towards the Pashto-speaking region further north. Operated by a joystick back on the aircraft carrier, the drone homes in on what 'intelligence' has identified as buildings housing Taliban and/or al-Qaeda commanders and sympathisers. Real-time images from the drone and other spy aircraft circling overhead provide the operator with the support he needs to put the target within the crosshairs, and ultimately to release the Hellfire missile that is attached to the Predator's underbelly. Hundreds of miles away on the high seas, from his darkened workstation, the operator watches the flat screen as the missile hits. There is a soundless puff of dust and smoke. Mission accomplished.

Dozens of children, women and men are killed in the attack, scores injured. Perhaps a Taliban leader or an al-Qaeda sympathiser is caught amidst the rubble. But what of the innocent Pakistanis that die as a result of this dehumanising warfare? Is there a war crime here or not? Should not the anti-war intelligentsia of Southasia be joining hands to put up a sober protest against this attack on innocents in North and South Waziristan? Why are the peaceniks of Southasia not organising to protest this macabre death-by-drones, willed by George W Bush and supported by Barack Obama – the latter used the word 'kill' more than once in his presidential campaign in relation to Afghanistan-Pakistan. Evidently, it is politically correct to look cruel and tough when the topic turns to this part of Southasia.