McClatchyDC’s review of top-secret intelligence reports reveals the CIA has used drones to kill hundreds of people “who only were suspected, associated with, or who probably belonged to militant groups.”
Read the full investigation here.
And read everything we know so far about the drone war doctrine of “signature strikes.”
Very apropos, as we’d just mentioned the dearth of available information on the U.S. drone strike program a couple hours ago — do yourself a favor and read this full story on what is perhaps America’s most controversial modern warfare tactic. Figures and insights on drones are hard to come by, so it’s truly crucial not to miss the information that does trickle out.
In the virtual cockpit: What it takes to fly a drone
(Photo: Michael Shoemaker / U.S. Air Force)
Drone pilots escape the physical demands and dangers of a traditional cockpit. There’s no g-force pinning them to their seats, no uncomfortable pressure suit to wear and no panic because the aircraft they are sitting in is spiraling out of control.
It’s worthwhile to peel back the curtain and at least keep conversation going about one of America’s most controversial tactics. Thanks to the national security/wartime state, we as citizens still have perilously little insight into the targets of these drones, or especially the civilian casualties resulting. What information we do have is usually from this very perspective — through the pilot’s eyes.
The United States has violated Pakistan’s sovereignty and shattered tribal structures with unmanned drone strikes in its counterterrorism operations near the Afghan border, a U.N. human rights investigator said in a statement on Friday.
Pakistan’s relations with the U.S. have been placed under strain in recent years by the latter’s drone program, as well as by the most prominent (and in the United States, most popular) violation of Pakistani sovereignty – the clandestine raid that killed Osama bin Laden in his compound in Abbottabad.
It’s encouraging to see John Stewart back Paul on this one. Stewart is a pace setter on the left in terms of public opinion, and his endorsement will help soothe the allergy that many on the left have for supporting GOP members, even when the latter happens to be doing something right.
Nod. Props to Rand for getting the gesture right.
(Source: hipsterlibertarian)
I’d like to break Strom’s record, but I have discovered there are limits to filibustering, and I have to go take care of one of those
Senator Rand Paul who officially yielded the floor at 12:39 AM est (via antigovernmentextremist)
Rand Paul filibustered for 12 hours and 52 minutes. During a snowstorm in D.C. With President Obama’s usage of drones as the main topic, and the nomination of would-be CIA head John Brennan hanging in the balance. It was the first “real” filibuster—dude-talking-for-hours-style—since Bernie Sanders did it in 2010. More details here.
This is the final phase of the process since it is in that massif [the Ifoghas mountains] that AQIM forces have probably regrouped. Our Chadian friends launched an attack yesterday which was very harsh with significant loss of life. I want to praise what the Chadians are doing.French President Francois Hollande • Speaking on his nation’s military collaboration, along with African forces, against al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a militant group in Mali now waging a weakening insurgency in the country’s far north. The group had claimed control of broad swaths of northern Mali in 2012, causing the government to request international military help, which Hollande and France (Mali was a French colony until 1960) have provided in the form of 4,000 soldiers deployed. And lest you think there’s a military operation of this sort the United States isn’t involved in, predator drones have been offered to the effort as well, which U.S. officials claim will be used to glean deployment information. source
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism just announced a new project, “Naming the Dead,” which “will seek to identify as many as possible of those killed in US covert drone strikes in Pakistan, whether civilian or militant.”
‘In the face of official secrecy, having the full facts about who is killed is essential for an informed debate about the effectiveness and ethics of the drone campaign,’ said Christopher Hird, managing editor of the Bureau.
They’re going to start with Pakistan and then move on to Yemen and Somalia. This is an important project.
The administration’s use of, and tact on drone strikes is undoubtedly one of the most controversial parts President Obama’s record. But from a journalistic standpoint, so little basic information is known about the people who’ve been killed. This seems like a good start.
[W]here necessary, through a range of capabilities, we will continue to take direct action against those terrorists who pose the gravest threat to AmericansPresident Obama. Is this an oblique reference to drone strikes, or just a general pledge to continue fighting terrorism?
BREAKING: Congress to get classified drone info
(Photo: US Air Force via Reuters)
Reversing their earlier course, the White House will now brief members of Congress on a memo detailing the justification for drone strikes against U.S. citizens.
Will be interesting to see when this info is UNclassified and released to the public.
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We conduct those strikes because they are necessary to mitigate ongoing actual threats, to stop plots, prevent future attacks and, again, save American lives. These strikes are legal, they are ethical and they are wise.White House Press Secretary Jay Carney • Speaking on a recent Justice Department memo made public, asserting the government’s right to target citizens for drone strikes if it’s deemed they’ve been involved in attacks against the United States, circumventing the due process of law that Americans are traditionally Constitutionally entitled to. The memo itself seems to strive for a standard under which the U.S. drone killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, for example, a U.S. citizen suspected of terrorist activity when he was slain in Yemen, would be considered legal. This is an interesting policy area for the odd political bedfellows it draws together, as both left and right wing criticisms of the targeted killing program are prevalent, and President Obama’s nominee to head the CIA, his 1st term counterterrorism chief John Brennan, has a Senate confirmation ahead of him. Brennan in his old job was a central figure in the U.S. drone program, and as such we’d anticipate even some bipartisan congressional grilling on this topic during his hearing. source
Street Artist Behind Satirical NYPD “Drone” Posters Arrested
“A street artist who hung satirical posters criticising police surveillance activities has been arrested after an NYPD investigation tracked him to his doorstep.” Note the irony of the artist satirizing drones getting tracked.
As this map from Slate points out, there have been five times as many unmanned drone attacks under Obama than there were under Bush.
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