What to Expect from Obama's Second Term (Part Two)

More drone attacks

When President Nixon engaged in Operation Menu – his secret bombing campaign in Cambodia during the Vietnam Conflict – Progressives decried it when it was revealed. When President George W. Bush was carrying out drone attacks in Pakistan, Progressives accused him of being a war criminal. However, when President Obama increased the campaign of drone attacks and expanded their scope to Yemen and Somalia, Progressives remained quiet.

As of late September of 2012, the number of drone attacks carried out by the Obama administration during its first term was four times greater than the number of drone attacks carried out during the two terms of the Bush administration. As of August of 2012, Obama had carried out up to 337 drone strikes in Pakistan, 35-45 in Yemen, and another nine in Somalia.

According to a study by Stanford Law School and the New York University School of Law, the number of “high level” targets killed by such drone strikes is extremely low – about 2%. According to data from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: “from June 2004 through mid-September 2012, available data indicate that drone strikes killed 2,562 - 3,325 people in Pakistan, of whom 474 - 881 were civilians, including 176 children.”

Unconstitutional warfare employing drones has become Obama’s favored form of militarism. Unlike Nixon, Obama sees no need to commit his war crimes covertly. It is not going out on a limb to predict that the number of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and elsewhere will continue to increase during Obama’s second term. As innocent civilians will inevitably be killed in large numbers in these drone strikes, blowback is inevitable. Obama is creating a whole new generation of enemies for the United States. These drone attacks are perhaps the greatest recruiting tool that al Qaeda and other radical terrorist organizations could hope for. Worse yet, producing blowback in a nuclear armed nation like Pakistan is courting apocalyptic disaster. It is estimated that Pakistan possesses between 90 and 110 nuclear warheads. Should the Pakistani government fall under the control of radical Muslim elements, there is no telling what they might do with those weapons if they believe the nation is under attack by the United States. If drone strikes are not a form of terrorism, it is unclear what terrorism is. And it would only be natural for Pakistanis to one day seek vengeance for innocent civilians killed in drone strikes. Nevertheless, President Obama is unlikely to live up to his Nobel Peace Prize Laureate status during his second term.