Drone attacks | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Every parent can sympathize with President Barack Obama's speech about the murder of 20 children in Connecticut. My prayers go out to these families.

Credible reports suggest that during Obama's first three years in office, there were 259 U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan. These attacks killed between 297 and 569 civilians, of whom at least 64 were children. Are these 64 children not worthy of a speech or press clippings?

These drone attacks have been devastating to Pakistan. Since President George W. Bush started the drone program that Obama so enthusiastically expanded, there have been several strikes on schools in the name of fighting terrorism. In Pakistan, this procedure has resulted in a ratio of 50 innocent victims for every "suspected militant" taken out in a drone strike.

While assault weapons face a ban in America, the United States remains one of the largest arms producers in the world. Many of these weapon fall into the hands of drug cartels or dictators friendly to our multinational corporations.

How is killing innocent women and children in drone attacks so immoral under a Republican president, but swept under the rug when a Democrat is in office?

Jeff Tjas

Salt Lake City