5 myths used to justify drone assassinations
What we misunderstand about these high-tech killings
By Robert Greenwald
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August 28, 2013
America’s
never-ending war on terrorism is almost always depicted in the
mainstream media as a military and intelligence agency fight on a global
battlefield. But it is also a propaganda war where the public is fed
inaccuracies from Washington, especially when it comes to overseas
killings by U.S. military drones.
Here
are five myths perpetuated by the military and its weapons makers that
seek to make Americans feel good about drones and the White House’s
policy of targeted assassinations.
Myth No. 1: They Target High-Level Terrorists
Only
2 percent of drone strikes have killed "high value targets," former
counter-terror adviser to David Petraeus, David Kilcullen, notoriously
remarked in a New York Times column
early in the Obama presidency, where he said that 50 civilians were
killed for every "high-value target" assassinated. That means that 98
percent of drone-caused deaths have been a mix of low-level militants,
civilians, or another dubious Pentagon classification called "unknown
militants."
This spring McClatchy and later NBC reported that 25 percent of those killed in drone strikes in Pakistan have been classified as "unknown militants." So by its own admission, the CIA has no idea whom they are killing about a quarter of the time.
Keep in mind that if a military-aged male is killed in a strike he is
automatically presumed to be a militant. The implication being, there is
a huge room for error, and many of these "unknown militants" are likely
civilians. In one case, the CIA classified 20-22 "unknown militants"
killed. This strike actually killed around 40 civilians.
Myth No. 2: Drones Are Accurate
The Pentagon rhetoric touting "pinpoint" and "laser" accuracy of
drones is baseless. Dr. Larry Lewis, a principal research scientist at
the Center for Naval Analyses, a research group with close ties to the
U.S. military, studied the record in Afghanistan and found that drone strikes were no more accurate
than traditional air power. So, after all this talk about the ability
to discern enemies through surveillance, they are no more accurate than
traditional flybys. This rhetoric has allowed us to kill innocent children.
Notably,
this study was done in Afghanistan, where there is ample ground and
human intelligence for selecting and assessing targets, as well as
people who investigate the aftermath of the strikes. But that is not the
case in Pakistan and Yemen, which means that the strikes have been more
deadly for civilians. The implications from this reality are cynical
and cavalier: Either the information on the ground is faulty, or drone
operators are OK with certain levels of civilian casualties. Regardless,
drones fall far short of the hyped rhetoric coming from the Obama
administration.
Myth No. 3: Drone Targets Imminently Threaten America
The
mainstream media have played into the CIA/administration’s selective
leaks about drones, especially the concept of a "kill list." This
military branding conjures up a process of carefully selected enemies
who pose imminent threats to the U.S. However, the reality of "signature
strikes" undercuts this P.R. construction.
Never officially acknowledged by the administration, signature strikes target unknown suspected militants who display "pattern of live" behavior associated with al-Qaida and the Taliban.
What the "patterns" consist of is officially a secret. What we do know
is that as soon as signature strikes were implemented there was a spike
in the number of drone strikes and the number of people killed in
strikes.
Furthermore, reporting has recently revealed
that the original authorization for drone strikes in Pakistan came from
now deposed President Musharraf. The only way he would approve of the
strikes was if the CIA killed his enemies. These "side-payments"
became a characteristic of the CIA program. Instead of focusing on
enemies of the U.S., the CIA played along with Pakistan’s intelligence
agency, ISI, and its military to hit targets who posed no threat to the
U.S.
Myth No. 4 Drones Are Cheap
Setting
aside the moral, legal and efficacy arguments about drones, the mantra
from the administration, lobbyists and their lackeys in Congress has
been drones’ low per-unit cost of $4 million to $5 million. According to Winslow Wheeler
of the Project on Government Oversight, "This is quite incorrect." He
states, "The actual cost for a Reaper unit is $120.8 million in 2012
dollars." This is far above the $27.2 million F-16C or the $18.8 million
A-10. Seemingly, this "aura of inevitability" about investing in this
new revolutionizing weapon is the military-industrial-complex at its
self-serving worst.
Myth No. 5: Drones Are Making Americans Safer
They
are not, in fact. Not only are drones effectively destabilizing a
nuclear power, Pakistan, in one of the most conflict-ridden regions of
the world, they are inciting waves of suicide bombers to attack
Pakistan. They are also directly threatening the U.S.
In
a global age of connectivity there is a new phenomenon of
self-radicalization. People who identify with the Muslim Diaspora are
seeing their kinsmen being murdered by America in a most brutal way. The
Boston Marathon bombers are only the latest example of this phenomenon.
The most notorious self-radicalized terrorist was Faisal Shahzad, who,
in 2010, tried to blow up New York’s Times Square. When asked about his
motive, he directly cited drones.
These
rebels with a cause will sadly become the norm as we push and provoke
more of the world’s 1.3 billion to 1.4 billion Muslims into the
political fringes where American violence begets more violence.
* * *
Last
fall I traveled to Pakistan where I witnessed firsthand the horror and
challenges people of Pakistan face while living under drones. I went to
Pakistan to investigate the civilian casualties caused by U.S. drone
strikes and to speak with Pakistani people about how drone strikes
impact their families, their communities and their lives. During my
travels I met Rafiq ur Rehman and his son and two young daughters whose
mother was killed in a drone strike. Rafiq’s daughters reminded me of my
daughters at a very young age and speaking with them left a significant
impression on me. It helped drive my desire to create our upcoming film
on drones.
We’re working to break through the myth and expose the truth about drone strikes.
Please donate to our crowd-funding campaign on IndieGogo to help us finish and release our documentary on "America’s Drone Wars."
Every dollar makes a difference – support this cause by getting the word out and SHARE this page with your friends and family.
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