This week saw the most extraordinary scene materialize in Washington DC. Nine-year-old Nabeela ur Rehman, from North Waziristan in the remote tribal region of Pakistan, arrived to a media blitz.

She came to tell her own personal story to the nation, in front of the US Congress and national media, of drone horrors and the savagery of America's secret assassinations overseas. Accompanied by her family, Nabeela told the story of the day her grandmother, a 67-year-old midwife, was killed by a US drone strike while tending her garden.

There is talk of financial compensation being awarded to the family, which US officials are keen to avoid because of the flood of claims which might follow even one single, official admission of guilt on their part.

Almost certainly, someone, somewhere is setting up a special new 'NGO' to handle US drone compensation funds should they ever be awarded. But direct payouts to victims might upset certain Pakistani officials, as such restitution would bypass the main financial beneficiary of US counterterrorism policy in Pakistan - corrupt factions within the Pakistani security services and military who've already received billions is US dollars over the last decade in order to assist Washington in its famous War on Terror.

Notice how there has never been any serious diplomatic rift between Pakistan and Washington, even though Pakistani officials now admit that at least 67 innocent civilians have been killed by US drones since 2008. One UN investigator puts the number at 400 since 2004. Some human rights groups put the number even higher.

'It’s legal because we say it is'

To date, the White House's party line on its clandestine, unmanned air force has been strict denial of civilian casualties, followed by sweeping legal statements made to exonerate any wrongdoing on its part. But it will take more than political dexterity for the White House to talk their way out of this case. For both American and overseas voices alike, a serious conversation over the criminality of US drone policies is long overdue. Maybe it will take the honesty of a nine-year-old girl to break down the flaky arrogance of salaried apologists in Washington.

Through war powers enshrined in the National Defense Authorization Act(NDAA) and revelations leaked from a confidential Justice Department memo, the US government has been on the biggest extrajudicial killing spree of our time.

One such memo states, "The condition that an operational leader presents an 'imminent' threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future."

For the last two US administrations, Washington officials have insisted that they are 'covered' legally by ordering the killing of any suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists, and even American citizens, as long as a handful of individuals somewhere within the US intelligence establishment believe they might present a threat in the future.

Such a compelling piece from the Kremlin...

Real leaders use Polonium for assassinations...

Education in Russia is provided predominantly by the state and is regulated by the Ministry of Education and Science. Regional authorities regulate education within their jurisdictions within the prevailing framework of federal laws. In 2004 state spending for education amounted to 3.6% of GDP, or 13% of consolidated state budget. In 2011, the spending on education amounted to $ 20 billion. Private institutions account for 1% of pre-school enrollment, 0.5% of elementary school enrollment and 17% of university-level students.

Before 1990 the course of school training in Soviet Union was 10-years, but at the end of 1990 the 11-year course had been officially entered. Education in state-owned secondary schools are free; first tertiary (university level) education is free with reservations: a substantial number of students are enrolled for full pay. Male and female students have equal shares in all stages of education, except tertiary education where women lead with 57%.

The literacy rate in Russia, according to the 2002 census, is 99.4% (99.7% men, 99.2% women). According to a 2008 World Bank statistic 54% of the Russian labor force has attained a tertiary (college) education, giving Russia the highest attainment of college-level education in the world. 47.7% have completed secondary education (9 or 10 years old); 26.5% have completed middle school (8 or 9 years old) and 8.1% have elementary education (5 years old). Highest rates of tertiary education, 24.7% are recorded among women aged 35–39 years (compared to 19.5% for men of the same age bracket).