Desmond Tutu Blasts US Drones: American or Not, All Victims Are Human

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/02/14-3


Longtime peace activist and Nobel Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (Photograph: Zak Hussein/PA)

n a letter to the New York Times published Wednesday, South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu challenged the hypocrisy of the US and its citizens for accepting a killer drone program when it pertains to foreign suspects while demanding judicial review when those targets are American citizens.


He writes:

Do the United States and its people really want to tell those of us who live in the rest of the world that our lives are not of the same value as yours? That President Obama can sign off on a decision to kill us with less worry about judicial scrutiny than if the target is an American? Would your Supreme Court really want to tell humankind that we, like the slave Dred Scott in the 19th century, are not as human as you are? I cannot believe it.

I used to say of apartheid that it dehumanized its perpetrators as much as, if not more than, its victims. Your response as a society to Osama bin Laden and his followers threatens to undermine your moral standards and your humanity.
Tutu was responding specifically to an earlier New York Times piece which discussed the idea of a "special court" or tribunal to review drone strikes against US citizens. Though not entirely new, the plan has gained momentum since last week's confirmation hearing of CIA director nominee John Brennan during which lawmakers, including Senators Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Angus King (I-Maine), discussed the option.

[KG]

1. obviously, Desmond Tutu is an Obama-basher with an agenda.

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2. !

[Enrique]

3. must be a Romney supporter

or maybe Ron Paul.

[Dragonfli]

5. Worse, AQ supporter seeking to lend aid and support to terrorists. Hope he makes the list /nt

[Dragonfli]

4. "Nobel Peace Prize laureate" I call bullshit! I bet he hasn't ordered a single excecution

let alone had the courage to kill as many civilians as necessary to achieve a truly peaceful hit list.

If he has an "Obama prize" he sure as hell hasn't earned it. Sounds like a terrorist sympathizer hoping to lend support to AQ, with any luck he will walk out into an open garden where a freedom drone can ensure his "peace" and our protection from him.

Bleeding heart AQ lover.....

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Silly man. He doesn't realize that we're killing kids for their own good.

And, we can (and, probably will) kill a lot more of them and that the killers get medals for killing them.