Obama boasts he is 'really good at killing people'
“This will not go over well for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
“According to the new book 'Double Down,' in which journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann chronicle the 2012 presidential election, President Barack Obama told his aides that he’s 'really good at killing people' while discussing drone strikes ...
“The claim by the commander-in-chief is as indisputable as it is grim. Obama oversaw the 2009 surge in Afghanistan [and] expanded the drone war: There have been 326 drone strikes in Pakistan, 93 in Yemen, and several in Somalia, compared to a total of 52 under George Bush …
“Under Obama U.S. drone operators began practicing 'signature strikes,' a tactic in which targets are chosen based on patterns of suspicious behaviour and the identities of those to be killed aren’t necessarily known. (The administration counts all 'military-age males' in a strike zone as combatants.)
“Furthermore, the disturbing trend of the 'double tap' ― bombing the same place in quick succession and often hitting first responders ― has become common practice. Needless to say, a lot of innocent people have been killed.”
BusinessInsider.com.au, November 3.
Britain: Poor soldiers used as cannon fodder
“Young soldiers from poor backgrounds are most likely to face the perils of the front line, a report claims.
“Working class troops are more at risk than middle class comrades of being sent as infantry to war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan, researchers found …
“The Infantry has suffered seven times the fatality rate in Afghanistan seen in the rest of the Armed Forces ....
“Young soldiers are far more likely than older troops to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, to abuse alcohol and to behave violently on their return from a combat zone, the study finds.
“But the report also suggests young recruits from disadvantaged backgrounds are at greatest risk. Its author, David Gee, said: 'When it comes to the trauma of warfare, recruits from the poorest backgrounds face a perfect storm of pre-existing vulnerability and greater battlefield exposure.'”
Mirror.co.uk, October 28