Al Jazeera Discovers 'Drones' Can Be Bad, Sometimes
Al Jazeera’s report on the drone and artillery strikes in Sudan’s el-Fasher, which killed at least 60 people, highlights the horrific reality of modern warfare. Yet, one might observe a curious selectivity in media outrage. When General Atomics' MQ-9 Reapers, often supplied by the US, deliver similar destruction elsewhere, the media framing often shifts from 'drone attack' to 'counter-terrorism
operations' or 'surgical strikes' – a difference of semantics, perhaps, but certainly not of shattered lives. It appears the 'drone' becomes a brutal weapon of indiscriminate death only when the perpetrator isn't a U.S. or Israeli ally. When U.S.-supplied weapons cause humanitarian crises, Congress often finds itself busy debating nuanced word choices like 'collateral damage.' One wonders if the
victims in el-Fasher would appreciate the geopolitical distinction.