US drone operators to get warfare medal.

Run_to_da_hills

"The Distinguished Warfare Medal can be awarded to those US troops who launch assassination drone strikes and direct cyber attacks"

Sponsored by xbox no doubt :mad:

I have started several threads in the past on this subject as I deplore this type of cowardly US sponsored warfare activity considering the amount of innocent "collateral damage" that these "illegal" hit & miss weapons take out.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80938929
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80703337
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=80690091

The Pentagon says it is creating the Distinguished Warfare Medal that can be awarded to those US troops who launch assassination drone strikes and direct cyber attacks. The outgoing US Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, said on Wednesday that the US drone operators and those who direct cyber attacks would be eligible to receive the medal for their direct impact on a US military operation from afar.

“I’ve seen firsthand how modern tools, like remotely piloted platforms and cyber systems, have changed the way wars are fought,” Panetta said.

The United States uses its assassination drones in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Somalia, claiming that they target ‘terrorists.’ The attacks, however, have mostly led to massive civilian casualties. According to the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, an independent organization, the US administration has used 363 of its assassination drones to hit targets in Pakistan since 2004.

In September 2012, a report by the Stanford Law School and the New York University School of Law gave an alarming account of the effect that assassination drone strikes have on ordinary people in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The US drone strikes were initiated under former US President George W. Bush, but have escalated under President Barack Obama. The United Nations says the airstrikes are targeted killings that flout international law.

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/02/14/288892/us-drone-operators-to-get-warfare-medal/

admiralofthefleet

its valentines day, go have a **** or something

Perhaps the drone operators are into cyber sex.

Sh1tbag OToole

Fecking stupid thing to be giving out medals for. Before an assassination attempt usually meant taking significant risk. Now the worst that can happen is a drone worth maybe $50,000 gets blown up. Even if the drone is "worth millions" chances it contains less than 50k worth of parts.

All the stuff the US military buys is ridiculously overpriced and it's just a huge gravy train for military contractors. Much of this is just a glorified dole scheme with useless workers moved along to different departments till they retire

ITS_A_BADGER

I can already see the ****ty novels based on this, some child prodigy good at video games was spotted by the goverment as he was good at call of duty, and they drafted him in and took him to a secret goverment base to test him and soon get him up to speed and he becomes the best drone operator the world has ever known :pac:

sxt

George W bush should have be hung on a noose years ago.... It is frightening the amount of devastation and death he directly caused to Millions of innocent Iraqi civilians , all based on a a complete LIE. Everyone at the time knew is was a LIE and everyone knows it was a LIE now. He murdered up to one million people according to respectable medical journal The Lancet.... He made 4- 5 million innocent civilians run for their lives and flee Iraq as refugees...


Unfortunately the world wide media does not see it that way...

castletownman

There was a time when soldiers were awarded medals for proper feats of bravery on the battlefield (losing limbs, saving their battalion or whatever). Now, it seems if your handy at controlling an unmanned object, whilst carrying out one of the most cowardly forms of attack every known to warfare, you get rewarded. Madness!

Run_to_da_hills

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

its valentines day, go have a **** or something

How many victims that have been blown to pieces were once someone's loved one?

Hande hoche!

I prefer this one http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/12/drone-pilot-to-receive-first-air-force-medal-of-honor-since-vietnam/

MadsL

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I have started several threads in the past on this subject

And you need a shiny new one because?

ejmaztec

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

How many victims that have been blown to pieces were once someone's loved one?

Even Pol Pot was somebody's loved one.

Snowie

i cant click the links as my tinfoil hat is detecting possible dangers :eek:

dr gonzo

Hande hoche! wrote: »

I prefer this one http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/12/drone-pilot-to-receive-first-air-force-medal-of-honor-since-vietnam/

For one terrifying moment I thought this was real. Funny stuff

Snowie

Snowie wrote: »

i cant click the links as my tinfoil hat is detecting possible dangers :eek:

Is it extruded aluminium or rolled?

My name is URL

I honestly don't see why this is a bigger deal than awarding medals to people who have been on actual tours of duty etc...

Why is blowing a fcukload of people up remotely any worse than doing it with a bomb strapped to your chest?

Medals were awarded to US troops for shooting down a passenger plane in 1988, killing 290 people - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655#Medals_awarded

plus ça change...

j8wk2feszrnpao

ejmaztec wrote: »

Even Pol Pot was somebody's loved one.

Ah jaysus, we're almost at Godwin's law on page 1 !

AlekSmart

MadsL wrote: »

And you need a shiny new one because?

.....he's just read his complimentary copy of Indymedia :eek:

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/83667

I understand that Air Chief Marshall Phillip Hogan,DSO,MC and bar, is currently arranging to have the Yiddish Drones seconded to Irish County Councils,where they will be used to detect and monitor oul bachelor farmers buring rubbish after dark,as well as illegal turfcutting and the destruction of the few remaining Big Houses left in Co Donegal.....:D

Conspiracy..?......You Bet !!!!

Death and Taxes

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

How many victims that have been blown to pieces were once someone's loved one?

Yada yada yada.....its progress the way you go on you would think they should be using bows and arrows against these taliban scum.
Save up and buy yourself a life:rolleyes:

j8wk2feszrnpao

WileyCoyote wrote: »

Yada yada yada.....its progress the way you go on you would think they should be using bows and arrows against these taliban scum.
Save up and buy yourself a life:rolleyes:

I think his point was that it's not always Taliban scum that get blown up.

sxt

My name is URL wrote: »

I honestly don't see why this is a bigger deal than awarding medals to people who have been on actual tours of duty etc...

Why is blowing a fcukload of people up remotely any worse than doing it with a bomb strapped to your chest?

Are you for real?

One is sponsored by a Muliti trillon dollar USA Govenrment who Support//Train/Sponsor/ Fund /Develop weapons of mass and great destruction...and can kill mass or great amounts of peoples when they want ( i.e one million innocent IRAQI people, based on a LIE).... and they have the added advantage of being UNACCOUNTABLE to no one...

Run_to_da_hills

Kolten Gorgeous Wiper wrote: »

I think his point was that it's not always Taliban scum that get blown up.

Some people contend with watching too much FOX news.

My name is URL

sxt wrote: »

Are you for real?

One is sponsored by a Muliti trillon dollar USA Govenrment who Support//Train/Sponsor/ Fund /Develop weapons of mass and great destruction...and can kill mass or great amounts of peoples when they want ( i.e one million innocent IRAQI people, based on a LIE).... and they have the added advantage of being UNACCOUNTABLE to no one...

They should start developing sarcasm detectors... they'd make a fortune :pac:

Ruudi_Mentari

So if they were real people I was gunning down with the drones in Future Soldier my 'acheivements' would be purple hearts?!

..dang. n mama always told me I wuz just hiding away! aka the ultimate coward but it's a topsy turvy world today.

Manic Moran

The creation of the medal has proven to be a little contentious, as the ranking is above a Bronze Star for Valor. On the other hand, there are non-combatant medals awarded also above the BSM, so it's an interesting question. I think it ultimately comes down to what the award criteria are. If it's just flying around dropping stuff in a particularly good manner, it probably can be done just as well and with less controversy with the currently extant ARCOM or AAM. But if it was a snap decision with serious consequences, or a particular feat of airmanship, I can see the merit to the medal.

Ruudi_Mentari

Rambo weeped.

ejmaztec

Kolten Gorgeous Wiper wrote: »

Ah jaysus, we're almost at Godwin's law on page 1 !

I don't think we are.:P

G Power

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

its valentines day, go have a **** or something

i wonder did 'merica take note of it being valentines and not blow the **** out of men, women and children with their cowardly unmanned drones today??

Ruudi_Mentari

Rambo wept.