War on Terror Droned Out Essay - 1236 Words

Droned Out Shortly after September 11, 2001, former president George W. Bush declared an international â€Å"war on terror.† He then sent troops to threatening countries such as Afghanistan; these troops personally conducted operations in order to honorably defend our country. Fast forward eight years and insert current president Barack Obama who continues the campaign against terrorism with a different approach. Instead of using real soldiers on the ground to fight terrorism he is essentially using robots. Obama’s counter-terrorism approach consists of targeted drone strikes where UAV’s are used to assassinate suspected leaders of terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda. Meanwhile these strikes don’t always work, and they can hurt innocent†¦show more content†¦Now, because of drones, the standard for a great American soldier has changed. Instead of the strong admirable men that we’ve grown to know the new breed of â€Å"so called ‘warrior s’ who just use computers to do this get higher accolades than the men who fought on the ground ever got,† are becoming more prominent (Babbin, 2013, Obama’s Drone War). These men are basically computer geeks who get recognition for risking their lives, meanwhile they’re sitting behind a screen. This is unfair to veterans of the past who have died or are permanently injured from actually fighting. Veterans are enraged by this, and now, they may question their patriotism. Since these veterans feed our depiction of loyalty and pride this is damaging America’s patriotism as a whole. The idea of democracy is highlighted by the fact that the executives don’t have too much power, so they can’t abuse it. Nonetheless, Obama is abusing his abilities in this particular counter-terrorism program. He has an overwhelming power as far as tactics and people’s lives. This is because the drone system is completely run through him and his final d ecisions (Babbin, 2013, Obama’s Drone War). In the academic journal Legal Ethics Is About the Law, Not Morality or Justice: A Reply to Critics, Bradley Wendel (2012) states â€Å"Obama Administration have prepared a still-secret memo authorizing the President to kill American citizens abroad without a trial.† A weak president is bad, butShow MoreRelatedThe Implications Of The Bush Speech - Rooting Out Terrorism974 Words   |  4 PagesThe implications of the Bush speech – rooting out terrorism in the world – taken from a modern standpoint, lend to the ethical evaluation of the address. Bush makes clear the notion that the global community condemns terrorism and any extremist activity; however, what type of policy agenda does Bush have in mind when making the address? In the years following the September 11 attacks, United States military action – particularly in the Middle East – escalated dramatically. Bush notes in his speech: