Yesterday, I was flamed for writing a diary that juxtaposed Obama's alleged statement to aides that he's "really good at killing people" with the story of a Pakistani family who came to Washington to testify about how drones killed their mother/grandmother. Among the pies tossed my way was the accusation I was deliberately flame baiting by pairing these two concepts side by side in the title of my diary: Son Told Truant Congress Drones Killed His Mom; Obama: "I'm good at killing people".
When I wrote my diary, my intention wasn't fishing for flames as one commenter kept accusing me. Obama's comment popped into my head when I read this article, Please tell me, Mr President, why a US drone assassinated my mother, written by Rafiq ur Rehman, the son of the 67 year old midwife, Momina Bibi, who was targeted by the bright lights of a drone and blown up while picking okra with her 9 grandchildren, who witnessed the "dum dum" sound of the drone hovering overhead and then smelled the "weird" scent of their grandmother being blown up by a hellfire missile as their world before them darkened. I thought this dreadful statement is the only explanation that Obama has even remotely given the grief stricken family so far about the death of their mother and grandmother, albeit indirectly.
I recommend reading this Huffington Post article: Obama Told Aides He's 'Really Good At Killing People,' New Book 'Double Down' Claims by Mollie Reilly and urge you to watch the video, in which the reporter says the following:
"The quote, the relish that he seems to take in the taking of human life is sort of unseemly, I'd say, and not the best thing for a politician to say."
"Pretty nasty stuff."
Will the detractors who changed the subject away from a Pakistani family traveling 7000 miles to testify before Congress, most of whom didn't bother to show up and listen to the innocent drone victims, who according to the REAL LIARS don't even exist, libel the Huffington Post reporter's integrity, too, for finding Obama's statement "unseemly," "pretty nasty stuff," and noting "the relish that he seems to take in the taking of human life"?
Just using the phrase "being good at killing" in and of itself, whether or not it was said quietly, is creepy to most people with any shred of humanity or even a modicum of social acumen. But when it is said by the world leader who gave his OK for drone strikes that killed and maimed hundreds of innocent victims, including this grandmother, whose families' suffering he ignores and does not compensate, it is beyond unseemly to anyone with even half a conscience.
The MSM reported that instead of a grandmother being droned in a field alongside her 9 grandchildren, 3-5 militants were droned in their car/house.
Now, that's what I call a lie.
Ms. Reilly also included in her article the story about the Pakistani family losing their grandmother as an example of one of the many civilians Obama has killed with drones. So, I was not alone in pairing Obama's statement about "being good at killing people" with the sweet grandmother droned to death.
The claim that Obama is remorseful about the grandmother's death rings hollow since he has never apologized for it or given any compensation to her family for her loss or the medical expenses to remove hellfire missile shrapnel from her 11 year old grandson's, Zubair's, leg or treating her 9 year old granddaughter's, Nabila's, hand wounds, who awoke in a hospital after running and running away from the explosion. Not only that, but the very next day after the family voiced their sad testimony in our Nation's Capitol, Obama was scheduled to meet, not with them, but with the very company that manufactured the hellfire missile that killed their grandmother and two companies that manufacture drones. He never met the grieving school teacher or his two injured children while they were in Washington. This snub alone says it all.
If these angry Kossacks believe Obama feels rueful about "being good at killing" and maiming innocent people by the softness of his voice, why do they accept the fact that he isn't apologizing to the innocent victims, helping them, or even acknowledging that they exist? Why are they accepting his continuance of a drone program considered a war crime by many legal minds?
As I commented yesterday:
I was trying to show the horrible reality of who Obama was really good at killing...many of whom are innocent people.
A commenter wisely made this point about Obama's explanation on drones:
He doesn't need words or legal construct....
He can either reduce or stop their use, he can explain to these families WHY they were targeted, as was the case with al-Awlaki's 16 year old, American citizen son, whose family members still have not heard why the strike that killed him was ordered. He can set up a system where targets can somehow contest the evidence against them...
But I don't accept the current system, where secret evidence is gathered secretly, where the approval for strikes is done in secrecy, and where the government refuses to even allow an assassination target to see the evidence against him or contest any of it, because again, secrecy. These are not the policies of an enlightened, transparent, and peaceful country.
And the truth is, none of us have any idea as to how Obama actually feels about these strikes....
How anyone could attack someone for pointing out the obvious about a statement that is truly horrible coming from a world leader, instead of demanding the world leader STOP KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE is WHY he is getting away with secretly killing grandmothers without a trial, without any apology, without any compensation, and without any acknowledgment.
To quote Bill Clinton about his indiscretion that pales in comparison to droning a grandmother, Obama can answer Momina Bibi's grieving son, "I did it, because I could."
Yes, he can.
Yesterday's diary was on this Truthout.org article, Drone Victims Tell Empty US House Their Story; Is America Listening? by Rania Khalek, Truthout, November 1, 2013.