Bill Maher destroyed by Glenn Greenwald on US interventionism. Bureau investigation finds fresh evidence of CIA drone strikes on rescuers. Are double-tap strikes being sanctioned to kill high value targets such as Yahya al-Libi? Additional reporting by Mushtaq Yusufzai A field investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in Pakistan’s tribal areas appears to confirm that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) last year briefly revived the controversial tactic of deliberately targeting rescuers at the scene of a previous drone strike. The tactic has previously been labelled a possible war crime by two UN investigators. The Bureau’s new study focused mainly on strikes around a single village in North Waziristan – attacks that were aimed at one of al Qaeda’s few remaining senior figures, Yahya al-Libi.
He was finally killed by a CIA drone strike on June 4 2012. The Bureau’s field researcher found five double-tap strikes took place in mid-2012, one of which also struck a mosque If correct, that would indicate that Congressional aides were not shown crucial additional video material. Special rules? Leaked report shows high civilian death toll from CIA drone strikes. A secret document obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reveals for the first time the Pakistan government’s internal assessment of dozens of drone strikes, and shows scores of civilian casualties. The United States has consistently claimed only a tiny number of non-combatants have been killed in drone attacks in Pakistan – despite research by the Bureau and others suggesting that over 400 civilians may have died in the nine-year campaign. The internal document shows Pakistani officials too found that CIA drone strikes were killing a significant number of civilians – and have been aware of those deaths for many years.
Of 746 people listed as killed in the drone strikes outlined in the document, at least 147 of the dead are clearly stated to be civilian victims, 94 of those are said to be children. A former Political Agent for North Waziristan who was shown the leaked report by the Bureau says he does not believe the casualty figures to be exaggerated. Living Under Drones: Yemeni's Testimony to Senate Committee on the Terror of Drones.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: A visualization of drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004. List of children killed by drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen « Drones Watch. Compiled from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports Like this: Like Loading... Obama terror drones: CIA tactics in Pakistan include targeting rescuers and funerals. Missiles being loaded onto a military Reaper drone in Afghanistan. The CIA’s drone campaign in Pakistan has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to help rescue victims or were attending funerals, an investigation by the Bureau for the Sunday Times has revealed.
The findings are published just days after President Obama claimed that the drone campaign in Pakistan was a ‘targeted, focused effort’ that ‘has not caused a huge number of civilian casualties.’ Speaking publicly for the first time on the controversial CIA drone strikes, Obama claimed last week they are used strictly to target terrorists, rejecting what he called ‘this perception we’re just sending in a whole bunch of strikes willy-nilly’.
‘Drones have not caused a huge number of civilian casualties’, he told a questioner at an on-line forum. ‘This is a targeted, focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists trying to go in and harm Americans’. Related article: A question of legality A case of retaliation? Living Under Drones: Death, Injury and Trauma to Civilians from US Drone Practices in Pakistan | Living Under Drones. Much of the public debate about drone strikes in Pakistan has focused narrowly on whether strikes are ‘doing their job’—i.e., whether the majority of those killed are “militants.”[275] That framing, however, fails to take account of the people on the ground who live with the daily presence of lethal drones in their skies and with the constant threat of drone strikes in their communities.
Numerous other reports have highlighted the disastrous impacts of Taliban and other armed actor operations in Pakistan.[276] Those impacts must also factor into the formulation of governance and military policy in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). This report, however, aims to draw attention to a critical gap in understanding, specifically about life under drones and the socio-economic impacts of drone strikes on civilians in North Waziristan. Voices from Below: Accounts of Three Drone Strikes March 17, 2011 June 15, 2011 January 23, 2009.