Monday, December 30, 2013

I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on...

Whenever I read comments by politicians defending the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Predator and Reaper program – aka drones – I wish I could ask them a few questions. I'd start with: "How many women and children have you seen incinerated by a Hellfire missile?" And: "How many men have you seen crawl across a field, trying to make it to the nearest compound for help while bleeding out from severed legs?" Or even more pointedly: "How many soldiers have you seen die on the side of a road in Afghanistan because our ever-so-accurate UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] were unable to detect an IED [improvised explosive device] that awaited their convoy?"

Few of these politicians who so brazenly proclaim the benefits of drones have a real clue of what actually goes on. I, on the other hand, have seen these awful sights first hand.

I knew the names of some of the young soldiers I saw bleed to death on the side of a road. I watched dozens of military-aged males die in Afghanistan, in empty fields, along riversides, and some right outside the compound where their family was waiting for them to return home from the mosque.

The US and British militaries insist claim that this is an expert program, but it's curious that they feel the need to deliver faulty information, few or no statistics about civilian deaths and twisted technology reports on the capabilities of our UAVs. These specific incidents are not isolated, and the civilian casualty rate has not changed, despite what our defense representatives might like to tell us. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. 'Why you kill my family?' Civilian Yemeni drone victims call US to account...
  2. President Obama reportedly told his aides that he's 'really good at killing people'
  3. How could only five members of Congress show up to look their drone...
  4. Drone strikes: tears in Congress as Pakistani family tells of mother's death...
  5. 'Will I Be Next?' Pakistan drone survivor evidence prompts calls for US ...
  6. Malala's drone strike warnings ignored by US media...
  7. Numberless Victims: US reluctant to admit how many civilians died in drone...
  8. 6 experts destroy Obame's drone policy...
  9. The drone that killed my grandson...

No comments:

Post a Comment