By Robin Mackey | “If Afghan men are oppressive because they inflict violence against Afghan women, then so too are American women who do the same.”

The following articles reflect the opposing views of two women concerned with the Global War on Terror and the U.S.’s employment of drone strikes. In the first article, we’ll hear from “Sparkle”—a remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) sensor operator who earned her nickname wearing a headset bedazzled with jewels in order to “emasculate the enemy in the afterlife”. Sarah Rahimi, a writer and activist focused on International Development based in Los Angeles, is the voice of our second article.

Drone strikes have a success rate of about 10%, resulting in an alarming ratio of nine civilians to one projected target. Sparkle believes her work is justified “considering how they treat their women”. But Sarah poses that “living in a patriarchal society in undeniable oppressive, but it is no less devastating than losing loved ones to violence – or being killed oneself.”

How do we navigate and respect Eastern cultures if we are unwilling to look past our Western lens?

Read from Sparkle’s perspective here:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/18/she-kills-people-from-7-850-miles-away.html

Read from Sarah Rahimi’s perspective here:

http://muftah.org/female-drone-operators-are-not-a-feminist-victory/#.WNU0zlUrLcu