Sunday 4 October 2015

Drones seem like the "Dirty Harry Approach" to International law.



David Cameron has promised to increase Britain's military capability to fight Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, including a doubling of the RAF's fleet of drones.

The prime minister told the Sunday Telegraph the UK would spend hundreds of millions of pounds on equipment and resources for special forces.

He said it was essential to meet the terrorist threat facing the UK.

He was speaking as the Tories gather in Manchester for their party conference.


Earlier this month, the prime minister was heavily criticised for authorising an RAF drone strike that killed Britons Reyaad Khan and Ruhul Amin near the Syrian city of Raqqa as as an "act of self defence".

It was believed to be the first targeted UK drone attack on a British citizen,
He insisted it was an "act of self defence", saying Khan, originally from Cardiff, was plotting "specific and barbaric" terrorist attacks in the UK.
Caroline Lucas, the Green Party's only MP, and Baroness Jones have joined forces with human rights charity Reprieve to take the first step towards a judicial review.

 In a letter to the Defence Secretary and Attorney General, lawyers for the politicians claimed the Government had failed to formulate a "targeted killing policy" or failed to publish it.

 The Raqqa strike, and the intention of the Government to pre-authorise targeted killings in the future in countries where the UK is not at war, is of concern to the claimants and many others.
The concern is heightened by the lack of clarity about the circumstances in which the Government reserves the right to kill British citizens outside of an armed conflict.
Such a lack of clarity as to the test which is being applied by the Government in deciding whether to pre-authorise the targeted killing of British nationals or individuals overseas raises real and serious concerns over the lawfulness of the Government's past and expected resort to the use of lethal force.
It is unclear what, if any, policies, procedures and/or safeguards are in place to ensure that this 'new departure' is only exercised in accordance with domestic and international law.
– Caroline Lucas MP and Baroness Jones

Even if you agreed with  the principle of such Drone attacks it seems an expensive way to "execute" such people or for a Prime Minister to get much needed publicity and claim he is protecting us.

Drone attacks are likely to  increase support for such militant and we can wonder if they can discriminate as effectively as it is claimed.

If we are to be the "Good Guys" then we should not be behaving like Dirty Harry.

A Policeman who decides that he has the right to choose to execute  rather  than arrest a suspect no matter the evidence has no place in the modern world and  we must also ask if governments should also be subject to similar scrutiny and rules as our law officers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fortunately, all the money they have saved by killing off the sick and the old will be used to kill off people with brown skins who might otherwise come to Great Britain and dilute their Great British values like fair play and decency, not to mention cricket.

And David Cameron can be a war hero into the bargain. It's just win win.

Bastards!