Labour should condemn drones

The drone was controlled by some unknown individual thousands of miles away staring at a computer screen. Perhaps they may have cheered when the school teacher's house exploded in flames and moved on to the next stage of the "game."

Impersonal targeted killings and assassinations are authorised by President Obama following a "kill list" drawn up by US intelligence agencies. There are no longer any thoughts of legality because the victims are prejudged by the US government for execution.

Who gives them that right?

Unmanned drones armed with missiles to fire at their unsuspecting prey have been in use since 2002. Deemed legitimate by the US and British governments as a means of eliminating their perceived enemies, without what the military terms as too much "collateral damage."

The facts though contradict this for, during 2009, 44 drone attacks in Pakistan killed 708 people of which only five were presumed to be terrorists.

Although assassinations carried out by the US government have been going on for over 50 years, the use of pilotless drones adds a new and immoral dimension to their catalogue of barbarity.

We must ask Ed Miliband what his attitude is to this kind of warfare? Does he agree with the use of drones to assassinate anyone deemed to be an enemy of the US? I hope the Labour party will condemn this practice and ban the use of drones when it regains power.

Richard Maunders

Axminster