Obama must work to end use of drones

President Obama must work to end the use of drones, a weapon that kills far too many civilians, fuels the Taliban and al-Qaida, and engenders distrust in the United States' ability to bring stability to the region.

Pilotless drones, operated by Americans by remote control thousands of miles away safe in the Nevada desert, are not only inhumane but largely inefficient - the number of militants killed is unjustly outweighed by civilians killed.

David Kilcullen, a former top adviser to U.S. Army General David Petraeus, recently testified to the House Armed Services Committee that drone attacks take too many civilian lives. Since 2006, drone attacks killed 14 al-Qaida leaders but also killed about 700 civilians, a 50:1 ratio of innocent victims to targeted enemies.

No surprise then that drone attacks further alienate and anger the Pakistani population against the U.S. efforts, fuel al-Qaida and the Taliban and prompt further distrust in their own government's actions. In fact, a recent poll on WorldPublicOpinion.org shows that 82 percent of Pakistanis consider the U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan unjustified, 69 percent have an unfavorable view of the U.S. government.

Many Pakistani politicians believe the Pakistani government should coordinate any drone attacks, not the U.S., including President Asif Ali Zardari. Many opposition politicians condemn any drone attacks at all. A Pakistani government official recently stated that drone attacks are a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and must be stopped. We are in regular contact with the U.S. and our concerns over recent strikes have been put across strongly."

To truly help the Pakistani people, the Obama administration must end its use of drones and invest in humanitarian and economic aid efforts.

David Corcoran

Des Plaines