Letter to the President re: Drone Strikes

Below is a copy of a letter I sent last Monday to President Obama asking him to consider curtailing drone strikes in Pakistan.  I also sent copies to my Washington senators, Cantwell and Murray.  I do not really expect these letters to land on a desk of importance, let alone influence American policy, but that didn't seem like a good enough reason not to write them.  If everybody in America who thought that, you know, murdering innocent civilians in foreign countries just sounded like bad business; if everybody who thought that sent a letter to their president and their senators, well, who knows.  I certainly don't.  We do what we can.

Oh, and if anybody wants to use this as a template, or even word for word, be my guest.

Dear President Obama,

I would like you to please consider ending the drone strikes in Pakistan.  According to an article published in The Telegraph in August of 2011, 168 children had been killed because of these strikes (not to mention hundreds more adult civilians).  There is no telling how many more have died since then.  In light of the recent tragedy in Connecticut, and the deaths of innocent American children, we have to look at the position of the United States as a world leader; your moving speech in the wake of these Connecticut murders could easily be applied to the innocents who are dying in this campaign in Pakistan.  Their parents and citizens grieve those deaths as we grieve these.  As humans, we are all in this together, and tears and prayers by Americans should not only be for Americans - we are supposed to be better than that, championing fairness and freedom around the world.

That is not to say the so-called war on terror is easy, of course it isn’t; you have difficult decisions to make on a daily basis to counter potential threats to America, decisions I will never have to face.  It is only to say that there must be a better way to go about this, a way that does not kill innocents.  I consider myself to be a good American - tolerant, fair, and a supporter of freedom around the globe.  I am first and foremost distressed that these civilians are being killed; also, though, I am distressed they are being killed by our American forces - which is to say they are being killed in my name, in your name, and in the name of all Americans.  We are better than that.  You are better than that.

You received my vote in both 2008 and 2012, and I wish you all the best in your 2^nd term.  I wish all the best for America.  But my well-wishing does not stop at our borders; as much as possible, I want the best for the rest of the world, too.

With humility and respect,

Michael Charles Murray

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