Join Anti Drone Days this April - Be part of the Voice Against US Drone Attacks Killing Children in Pakistan [Graphic Content]

Beware: This post contains graphic content

Since the so called war on terror began in Iraq based on lies and false claims, the spectrum of this War of Error has spread to many countries like Yemen and Afghanistan. With this war, also came the menace of deadly drone attacks, that were not only restricted to the targeted countries but also spread over to their neighbours to root out havens of terrorists.

In case of Pakistan, it is the most hard hit countries as far drone attacks are concerned  Here in more than 366 strikes, approximately 3,860 people have been killed, of which only 2% (1.5% to be exact) have been high value targets. Other than that a survey shows it included 884 children beside innocent men and women, beside 'suspected' militants. In war you may suspect anyone and kill him - who cares. However, US officials refuse to publicly discuss any details of the covert program and the death toll from drone strikes remains a mystery. 

When Malal Yousafzai, a small school girl from Swat Pakistan was hit by the militants, the US backed media projected her as a victim of militancy and she has been treated free of cost in one of the best available facilities in UK. But what about those countless innocent children who were ruthlessly killed by American drones - children who did not even know why their homes were being attacked. See the photo above - see the charred and burnt bodies of children and in one case the head is being blown out (centre above).

Most of the attacks are usually undertaken in the early morning when most of the people are asleep. And one's heart shrieks with pain when one sees photos of mothers and daughters lying dead on their cots since attack came even before they could wake up and run for shelters. While we talk of the children killed, we forget about those countless children who have been maimed for life as a result of drone attacks. Don't these children deserve treatment just like Malala?

In Pakistan, perhaps Imran Khan is the only politician who has raised voice against the menace of drone attacks not only in Pakistan but also in many parts of the world. He has also gone to the Waziristan, where most drone attacks occur with a large procession to sympathies with the drone victims and create awareness about this never-ending menace.

His efforts and efforts of those who car for humanity and children have kick-started a month long campaign in USA and even other parts of the world to condemn the US government for their faulty policies and the way the war on terror is being fought. It may be added here that out of 366 drone hits till a report was compiled by Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 314 have been undertaken under Obama administration.

Pitch Interactive, a Berkeley-based data visualization unit, has created a graphic tracking every drone strike the United States has carried out in Pakistan since 2004 (as shown above). The graph clearly shows a mere 1.5% high value targets were killed while remaining were all civilians, children, wone and 'suspected' militants. Wesley Grubbs, who created the visualization, joined HuffPost Live host Ahmed Shihab-Eldin Tuesday to explain the motivation behind the visualization.

"We want to shock people," Grubbs said. "What we tried to do though with this was not just shock people with the number of casualties, but to shock people with the amount of information that we really don't know."

"There is a tremendous amount of skepticism with the public about drone attacks in other countries. There is concern that innocent people are killed and enemies of the United States are being made," said Nick Mottern, founder of Know Drones, an educational organization that is helping co-ordinate the protests.

The campaign in USA has opposition to drone warfare based on stand for peace and justice and following factors:

• Armed drones are weapons of terror. They kill combatants and civilians, children and adults, men and women, alike. Their presence overhead terrorizes entire communities.
• Extrajudicial assassinations by killer drones violate U. S. and international law.
• Surveillance drones threaten our liberties, spying on communities and borders, invading our personal privacy.
• Drones make our families less secure by making it easier for military and paramilitary agencies (like the CIA) to continue endless war without limits in either space or time.

The world has awakened to the atrocities being committed under the garb of drone attacks to hit the militants. But the fact of the matter is that the collateral damage is far more severe and unethical than the desired results. Please join hands with the people and campaigner of anti-drone attacks and raise voice to save our children and people form being targeted, killed and maimed for life.

Read more:
Children of drones
April's Days of Action 

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