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BILL MOYERS: On our last two broadcasts, I've asked you
to respond to questions relevant to America's human rights record both here and abroad.
The first was about President Obama's use of drones to kill suspected terrorists. I
asked, does our national security justify their use even at the cost of innocent lives? One
response in particular seems to express the majority of opinion.
FEMALE #1: "We are putting innocent people at risk all
over the world. If that isn't terrorism, what is? Mr. Obama, can you even imagine what it
feels like to live in a country over which a foreign drone can fly and decide to kill
you at will? Wouldn't that very threat make you an enemy of the country that did so?"
BILL MOYERS: But there were opposing viewpoints, like this
one.
MALE #1: "If they -- Pakistan -- don't want innocent
civilians killed by drones, then they need to declare war on the terrorists on their
soil and drive them out. To do nothing is to give them a safe place to train and carry
on their worldwide operations. As in any war, civilians are going to get killed, but the
responsibility lies with Pakistan. We have the right to defend ourselves until the threat
is ended."
BILL MOYERS: And this:
MALE #2: "War is hell and the results of war are always
hellish.... To find a moral option is to ask for the impossible. To that end, drones are
preferable to the slaughter of our troops once the assumption is made that all war is
immoral on its face."
BILL MOYERS: After my interview with Heidi Boghosian, author
of "Spying on Democracy," I asked you if constant surveillance, the invasion of our
privacy, is ever justified. Most of you responded like this woman.
FEMALE #2: "If we aspire to be a democracy, with personal
freedoms guaranteed to citizens in the Constitution, then there is no justification for this egregious
invasion...
BILL MOYERS: This viewer added.
MALE #3: "I remember seeing *** Cheney say on TV that
since 9/11 the game had changed, and he seemed to imply that we, too, now had to become a
police state. It looks as if we are well on our way."
BILL MOYERS: But others disagreed.
FEMALE 3#: "Yes, it is justified in today's world. Without
it we would still be looking for the Boston bombers, bin Laden and a whole slew of other
infamous ones... I say, yes, keep up the surveillance." BILL MOYERS:
And this. FEMALE #4:
"I'm really not that interesting but if they need info on me I say go for it!"