Drone Strikes Are More Detrimental To America's Reputation Than Torture

Amid all the flap over Democrat Senator Feinstein's release of the so-called "Torture Report", many have questioned why she, President Obama, and other Democrats seem to think that there is no "moral equivalency" between Obama's use of drones and George Bush's use of enhanced interrogation techniques. 

But, understand this.  Unlike Bush's so-called torture techniques -- which only affected a few dozen highly-valued captive terrorists -- two separate studies have shown that Obama's use of drones has resulted in thousands of civilian causalities.  Casualties not limited to men but, also, women and children.  While the lucky ones (I guess) are the civilians that were killed, many others have been  maimed or disfigured for life.  Other survivors are known to have suffered severe psychological trauma equivalent to PTSD. If that, in itself, isn't torture, I don't know what is.

Yet, even so, the White House claims that the drone strikes are precision/surgical strikes and that all care is given to protect civilians.  But, the world thinks differently as this chart from a 2014 Pew Research report shows:

So, if Senator Feinstein and President Obama think that releasing the torture report shows that we are taking the high ground by "admitting our mistakes" then, why aren't we also taking the high ground by admitting that drone strikes kill innocent civilians?   After all, the "torture" (enhanced interrogation) was known to the world almost a decade ago, and right now, drone strikes continue and are even being ramped up because of our fight with ISIS in Syria and Iraq.  As such, the number of civilian deaths and injuries just keep piling up.  Perhaps, it will take another president, following Obama's exit from office, to admit that drone strikes were moral mistakes in a similar attempt at regaining s lost trust in this country around the world.

References:

Video: Henry to Earnest: How Can You [Obama] Claim 'Moral Authority' On Drone Strikes:  http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/12/10/henry-earnest-how-can-you-claim-moral-authority-while-killing-innocents-drones

2012 Study: Drone strikes kill, maim and traumatize too many civilians, U.S. study says: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/25/world/asia/pakistan-us-drone-strikes/

2013 Study: US drone strikes more likely to kill civilians than US jet fire: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/study-us-drone-strikes-more-likely-kill-civilians-us-jet-v19254842

Death toll of Obama’s Drone Campaign 5 Years Later: 2,400: http://www.juancole.com/2014/01/obamas-campaign-later.html

Pew Poll: Global Opposition to U.S. Surveillance and Drones: http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/07/14/global-opposition-to-u-s-surveillance-and-drones-but-limited-harm-to-americas-image/

Obama on CIA torture report: "When we make mistakes, we admit them":  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-on-cia-torture-report-when-we-make-mistakes-we-admit-them/

US airstrikes in Syria, Iraq could lead to high civilian casualties: http://rt.com/news/192220-isis-airstrikes-civilians-us/