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How would Americans feel if foreign nations used drone strikes in US

posted 8 years ago by johnwuy
12 replies | jump to latest

Right now, America has an almost monopoly on drone warfare. As a result, we are able to reach the globe conducting drone strikes on foreign cities with impunity.

What if one day the technology gets mundane enough that foreign nations started using drone strikes to kill their terrorists in America? For example, what if Turkey had the ability to use drones, and killed Fethullah Gulen when he's at a meeting in say Philadelphia? Would Americans still think the collateral damages are acceptable?

[–] Hagaxxx 8 years ago

They know it quite well since 9/11....what's wrong with you?

[–] Metatron_Fallen 8 years ago

Good question.

BTW, 9/11 was not drone strikes.

[–] r-ratheesh 8 years ago

Metatron,
He is talking about mortality of citizens issue in 9/11 not drone strikes

[–] Metatron_Fallen 8 years ago

Don't care what he's talking about.

Just pointing it out. 9/11 was a terrorist attack.

A drone strike is not. It's a nation sitting a weapon in your airspace and watching and deciding whether or not to explode a bomb in a place where innocent people may or may not die.

I think US citizens would react completely different to the Russians orbiting drones around NYC or even Omaha. Don't you? Even if Russia had UN backing to do so, I'm pretty certain people in the US wouldn't approve of this somehow.

[–] r-ratheesh 8 years ago

Metatron

Totally agree with you. US would not tolerate any causality of US Citizens whatsoever. Even in this movie they were very hesitant even to start the mission due to presence of a US Citizen.

That being said, would countries like Russia or Kenya would think so much on moral ground as much as the US if US would have been a weak country like Kenya and they would have been doing a similar operation?

[–] Metatron_Fallen 8 years ago

Well, ask yourself. How would you think US citizens would react if a Russian or Chinese drone killed a man and later they said via a newspaper, 'We understood that this man would go later that night to a disco in Florida and shoot a bunch of people'.

Does Russia, for example, have a right to intervene in our sovereign affairs to this extent in order to save lives?

[–] r-ratheesh 8 years ago

Metatron

I already agreed with you earlier.
After your suggestion, I asked myself again and my answer is same. US will not tolerate this whatsoever.

US have acquired a bit aggressive policy after learning from world war 2. Passiveness was the mistake done by Britain too before the actual would war 2 started. Israel cannot afford to be passive. I am not trying to discuss politics. My point is that powerful countries / people do bossism on others. Like Abraham Lincoln said, 'Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

My point is.... I agree that US deeds can be sometimes labeled as unethical to maintain its power and position but, if given a chance, other countries would do much worse.

[–] Ronny_the_effin_bear 8 years ago

It's already technically legal by the US government to conduct drone strikes on American citizens on US soil. That's the real possible future scenario: the US conducting drone strikes in America. Turkey would never do that independently. It would be international suicide.

[–] JayCeezy 8 years ago

YOU DID UNDERSTAND THAT THE REASON THE KENYAN TROOPS COULD NOT GO GET THE TERRORISTS BUILDING SUICIDE BOMBS, WAS BECAUSE THE AREA WAS CONTROLLED BY ISLAMISTS, RIGHT?

Nobody in the West is on the side of terrorists, anywhere. That is strictly a tactic for uncivilized and unenlightened cultures and peoples, like Islamists.

[–] Takhom 8 years ago

NO country likes/would like to be the target of drone strikes.

In many ways the "morality" of drones boils down to the latest iteration of "Might makes right" - the ability to strike without reply and an ultimate humiliation for the target struck.

The UK used to do this with their Navy. When a then 3rd rate power pissed them off, they'd just send their Navy to "punish" them with a Naval Bombardment. When Chinese "terrorists" dared burn down HM property and threatened death and injury to British civilian merchants - at a time when the Chinese navy had no hope of touching an RN vessel - that's exactly what the UK did. (Google "Opium War.")

Meanwhile, in Roman times, the appropriate response to a "terrorist" attack might be something like; "Some people from village x torched our grain store and killed three Roman civilian clerks? Send the legion, kill everyone in the village and nail a few of them up on crucifixes at the crossroads."

...

As for modern day America being the target of drone strikes by a foreign power, nobody is going to dare strike at US locations in the current real world that's for sure.

However, the US does actually host or has hosted a lot of other countries' terrorists. The IRA or various anti-Castro Cuban organizations for example. If in a hypothetical world the US was puny and Cuba mighty, i.e. the "Might makes Right" balance skews the other way, then indeed the US may be struck by Cuban drones - US collateral damage be damned, and Americans will sure as hell be incensed. Powerless to retaliate by conventional means, would there be American groups springing up to conduct 'terrorist' attacks against Cuba? Pretty sure there would be.

[–] brian-btapple 7 years ago

Turkey isn't defending the world from terrorism

[–] Dubdub1974 7 years ago

Well I believe that what is going to happen to drone war fare is what happened to nuclear warfare: the americans started it BUT as soon as other non-allied nations acquired the technology and threatened the US with it then a "gentleman's agreement" was reached to NOT use that technology in anyway other than in a defensive manner...that I believe is the future because there is no way the US or any other western country would tolerate a drone attack without it turning into WWIII...and really no one wants that...otherwise with nukes we's be there already.