Editorial Calls for Debate on Use of Drones

It is urgent that the U.S. stop the practice of using unmanned drones, some operated from 6,000 miles away, to attack targets “as a means of ending the use of terror,” writes Peter Vander Meulen in a guest editorial  published this week in the Holland Sentinel newspaper in Holland, Mich.

“It is tempting to use drones because it makes us feel that we are doing something about violent extremism. But drones do not make us safer, instead, they encourage more extremism,” writes Vander Meulen, coordinator of the Christian Reformed Church’s Office of Social Justice.

Rev. Richard Killmer, former executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, joined Vander Meulen in writing the editorial criticizing the use of the lethal drones and calling for a “much needed and long overdo public debate on the topic.”

Instead of reducing terrorism, they write, the use of drones as “tools of targeted killing … have made many people so angry that they travel far away to join groups that engage in extremist methods.”

They say that “our ability to use lethal drones has made it easier for the U.S. to engage in expanded warfare instead of what should be our goal — reducing our use of armed force.”

“Combating extremism requires non-violent, creative strategies. As a country and as Christians we should redouble our support for groups that work to prevent the rise of extremism. For Christians and others of deep faith who are risking their lives to build just and peaceful societies.”