Drone toy generates dozens of anti-Obama 'reviews'

A toy model of an American Predator Drone has become a sounding board for Americans disgusted with President Barack Obama's drone strikes against innocent civilians.



Although he won the Nobel Peace Prize, Obama’s foreign policy has been rather militant. Since entering office, the president’s authorization of hundreds of drone strikes in nations such as Pakistan and Yemen has led to the deaths of thousands of people, including innocent women and children, which is six times more than his predecessor, President George W. Bush.

The situation has become so severe that the United Nations announced in October that it has decided to launch an investigation in Geneva to examine the legality of such drone strikes in which civilians are killed in apparent counter-terrorism operations.

Well, the drone strikes are not sitting well with many Americans, including libertarians, Ron Paul supporters, liberals and some Republicans. Many have headed on over to Amazon’s page for the Maisto Fresh Metal Tailwinds 1:97 Scale Die Cast United States Military Aircraft toy, where dozens of individuals have published “reviews” of the product.

Most of the comments are quite critical of the president’s drone strikes and have been written over the past week. Much of the “reviews” include sarcastic comments about the president’s secret kill list, government-sanctioned murder and assassinating American citizens.

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are just a few of the reviews:

“This is the best toy ever. Finally, I can pretend that I'm a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize!,” wrote Raini Pachak in a review. “It's like I'm sitting right there in the White House with my very own kill list!”

“I thought this would come with "baseball cards" of American civilians living in other countries that I could target for termination, I had to satisfy myself by destroying everything in my house and giving up on everything I ever believed in, liberty, freedom, and due process!,” wrote Sandinista death squad.

“!!Wow!! You get to feel the thrill of being Commander-in-Chief Obama while bug-splatting little children around the world. I bet the President got a fleet for his own children for Xmas -- what great family fun! You can use the President's kill list or make your own!,” said Awdio Kreep. “This toy is obviously endorsed by the Department of Defense and the defense industry. A Nobel Prize candidate for "Best Peace-Promoting Toy’.” digitaljournal.com

"Whether your violating constitutional rights at home, or bombing children abroad, this toy's perfect for all clandestine missions! Double tap strike to triple your pleasure and casualties!"

"The coolest detail about this toy are the small body fragments you can litter around your target area following a drone missile strike on a wedding party. THEN (this is where the real fun begins) you circle back in an hour and fire MORE missiles at the people rescuing survivors and mourning the dead! Sure if another country did such a thing we'd decry it as heinous terrorism, but when good Ol' Uncle Sam's finger is on the joystick, you can bet that we call what we hit our target, no matter what."

"Nothing teaches your kids about the fact that they may one day be the target of an extra-judicious execution by executive order via a flying death robot from the movie Terminator, then this beautiful piece of replica toy war crimes."

"I really wanted to show my toddler that it's okay to murder people and still come out a "hero" as long as you're in an air conditioned trailer remotely operating a Predator Drone 10,000 miles away in Pakistan.

I mean, if the government sanctions murder, it must be ok, right?"

"... I bought ten of these for my boy because, as he so rightly says, "So many countries, so little time". He hasn't played with his Matchbox V2 Buzz Bomb once since he became a "Drone Operator". It's given him a real grasp of imperialism, murder of innocents, the art of war and the complex geography of the Middle East. Thank You Maisto, we look forward to your Cluster Bomb, Land Mine and Gas canister multi pack with anticipation hitherto unseen in the world of play." Business Insider

http://www.presstv.com/usdetail/285544.html

Amazon.com sold out.

Maisto International Inc.’s model Predator drones are selling out on Amazon.com Inc.’s website as parody reviews highlight how the toys can help children hone killing skills, mocking a controversial U.S. practice.

Only one of the $49.99 military-style toy jets is available for purchase on Amazon’s site, which is brimming with assessments laced with dark humor. “You can’t spell slaughter without laughter,” one pithy joker wrote.

President Barack Obama’s targeted use of drones to kill suspected terrorists has come under fire from both Democrats and Republicans who view the practice as inhumane. While Obama didn’t mention drones in his State of the Union address this week, he said he will continue a policy of “direct action” and vowed to make the anti-terrorism program more transparent.

“Nothing teaches my child about how to murder enemy combatants silently and invisibly from the sky with no risk,” one review on Amazon begins. “Teaching our children to be familiar with a silent, faceless killing machine is the way to educate our children about the importance that is war.”

As protest movements adapt to the digital age, Amazon is just one of many vociferous anti-drone forums on the Internet. Groups on Facebook Inc.’s social network such as Question Your Government, while protesting the policy, are also posting links to the critiques on Amazon’s site. Posts on Twitter Inc.’s micro-blogging service, including one from TechCrunch Inc. founder Michael Arrington, are also drawing attention to the reviews.
Change.org Petition

Change.org, a grass-roots community activism website that rose to prominence during Obama’s first presidential campaign, is gathering signatures on a petition asking Maisto, a maker of die-cast replicas, to discontinue the Fresh Metal Tailwinds Predator Drone toy.

“I will not buy this shameful toy, nor teach children to hate,” the petition says. “There is no glory in murder.”

Rick Berman, a director of product development at Maisto, declined to comment. Craig Berman, an Amazon spokesman, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Amazon’s conditions of use posted on its website say that the Seattle-based company reserves the right to remove or edit reviews, which it doesn’t regularly examine.

Consumers have flocked to Amazon’s review section as a forum for political satire before. In October, the user comment section of an Avery Dennison Corp. binder listed on the e- commerce site became the subject of a similar outbreak. Reviewers used Amazon to make light of a comment made by then- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney during a debate. Romney had said he drew upon “binders full of women” to help fill cabinet seats as governor of Massachusetts.
Occupy Registry

The following month, Occupy Sandy, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street encampment in lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park during the financial crisis, created wedding registries on Amazon to solicit gifts of everything from blankets to batteries to aid victims of Hurricane Sandy.

This time around, Amazon users are addressing the drone controversy with sarcasm. Notes one review rating Maisto’s toy five out of five stars:

“A must for every American child. I only wish this toy came with small appendages to scatter about the back yard to make it more life-like.”

Recommended on Amazon for children age 3 and older, Maisto’s model military drone has a 6-inch wingspan, and would scale up to an aircraft with wings stretching 48.5 feet. The toy is a replica of the RQ-1 Predator, an unmanned aircraft that the U.S. Air Force has used in combat over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq and Yemen, according to the product description on Amazon.

“It’s like I’m sitting in the White House with my very own kill list,” another five-star review reads.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Kucera in San Francisco at dkucera6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

Share this video all over the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mvOU-czQnl8

The truth stinks but, needs telling.