The human toll of the U.S. drone campaign

[sandinista! 1,816]

Glenn Greenwald

The principal reason so little attention is paid to the constant victims of American violence in the Muslim world is because the U.S. Government refuses to disclose anything about these attacks and media outlets virtually never report on those victims (MSNBC demoted and then fired its then-rising-star Ashleigh Banfield when she returned from Iraq and pointed out that fact in an April, 2003 speech denouncing the “one-sided” coverage of American wars: meaning, the invisibility in U.S. media of America’s civilian victims). It’s easy to cheer for a leader who regularly extinguishes the lives of innocent men, women, teeangers and young children when you can remain blissfully free of hearing about the victims. It’s even easier when the victims all have Muslim-ish names and live in the parts of the Muslim world we’ve been taught to view as a cauldron of sub-human demons. That’s why it’s periodically worth highlighting the actual impact of those drones and the actual people they kill, as the BBC did today:

When tribal elders from the remote Pakistani region of North Waziristan travelled to Islamabad last week to protest against CIA drone strikes, a teenager called Tariq Khan was among them.

A BBC team caught him on camera, sitting near the front of a tribal assembly, or jirga, listening carefully.

Four days later he was dead – killed by one of the drones he was protesting against.

His family told us two missiles hit the 16-year-old on Monday near Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan. His 12-year-old cousin Wahid was killed alongside him. . . .

After the missile strike on Monday, Pakistani officials said four suspected militants had been killed.

If the strike actually killed two young boys – as appears to be the case – it’s unlikely anyone will ever be held to account. . . .

Many senior commanders from the Taliban and al-Qaeda are among the dead. But campaigners claim there have been hundreds of civilian victims, whose stories are seldom told.

A shy teenage boy called Saadullah is one of them. He survived a drone strike that killed three of his relatives, but he lost both legs, one eye and his hope for the future.

“I wanted to be a doctor,” he told me, “but I can’t walk to school anymore. When I see others going, I wish I could join them.”

Like Tariq, Saadullah travelled to Islamabad for last week’s jirga. Seated alongside him was Haji Zardullah, a white-bearded man who said he lost four nephews in a separate attack.

“None of these were harmful people,” he said. “Two were still in school and one was in college.”

The article quotes the international human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith arguing that because Pakistan is not a war zone, these killings are “murder.” That’s an argument that — in the extremely unlikely event it were ever heard in America’s establishment media organs — would be treated with mockery and contempt. Everyone knows that the American President cannot commit “murder”; that’s only for common criminals and Muslim dictators (whom the West starts to dislike). But however one wants to define these acts, the fact is that we have spent a full decade bringing violence to multiple countries in that region and — in all sorts of ways — ending the lives of countless innocent people. Outside of Iraq, that process over the last two years has acclerated in both frequency and geographic scope. And it has left in its wake a horde of dead-16-year-old Tariq Khans and half-blinded, double-amputee teenage Saadullahs about whom we hear almost nothing. But the people in that part of the world hear a lot about it, and that explains much about the vast discrepancy in perceptions between the two regions.

The New York Times and others love to complain that Pakistanis and “the Arab Street” are propagandized: crucial facts kept from them in order to distract attention from what their leaders are doing. It may be true that they are, but they are most certainly not alone in that.

http://www.salon.com/2011/11/02/the_human_toll_of_the_u_s_drone_campaign/singleton/

[ready4ONE 5,400]

The cost in innocent lives is a sad and tragic consequence of not just US actions but a complicated string of action and reaction by many sides. Logical persons don't really need it reported when innocent lives are lost, reasonable persons know it will happen in armed conflicts, but is it more tragic for an innocent life to be lost via a cruise missile or a car or vest bomb? Or say a plane full of innocents lost, and buildings full of innocent people to boot?

Edited November 3, 2011 by ready4ONE

[sandinista! 1,816]

and the dehumanizing continues...

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Great Post Sandanista. I would like to follow it up with a conclusion

DO NOT VOTE FOR OBAMA! That warmongering murderer needs to be tossed from office and charged with war crimes!

[sly_wolf 199]

Great Post Sandanista. I would like to follow it up with a conclusion

DO NOT VOTE FOR OBAMA! That warmongering murderer needs to be tossed from office and charged with war crimes!

And what about Cheney and his side kick Bush?

[Ban Hammer 13,332]

And what about Cheney and his side kick Bush?

they were already tossed from office.

[Dakine10 5,452]

Great Post Sandanista. I would like to follow it up with a conclusion

DO NOT VOTE FOR OBAMA! That warmongering murderer needs to be tossed from office and charged with war crimes!

You're a funny guy sometimes Gary. If you ever decide to quit your day job, you really should give stand-up a try.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

And what about Cheney and his side kick Bush?

I will not vote for them either! (and did not)

they were already tossed from office.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't tell Sly Wolf.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

You're a funny guy sometimes Gary. If you ever decide to quit your day job, you really should give stand-up a try.

Thanks, But I was not joking.

Many people are offended by these actions and the person behind those actions is none other than Barack Obama. People that are bothered by this should not vote for him and should encourage others not to vote for him.

I'll help.

Edited November 3, 2011 by Gary and Alla

[luckytxn 2,264]

Obama the Socialist got the Nobel peace prize so he gets a pass.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

and the dehumanizing continues...

And intellectual dishonesty to support an 'only one side is wrong and it damn sure ain't mine' argument continues...

Nobody was dehumanized in my post. Sorry to burst your bubble. And we agree, innocent deaths in armed conflicts are tragic. Should we not also be able to agree such deaths are tragic no matter where they take place, or what age, race, nationality or creed the victims may be? Can we agree they are no less tragic when the attackers match those same criteria as the victims?

[slim 1,525]

It's OK since drones are just like a big video game and we're not killing REAL people.

Americans don't watch the BBC or Al-Jazeera or any other non-US news agencies. Until the Occupy Wall Street crowd gets too cold, this won't matter. If you want to make it matter, send Kim Kardashian over there.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

and the dehumanizing continues...

There is noting you can do here by arguing with people that do not care. The ONLY thing you can do is not vote for the gy that does this and encourage anyone you know to also not vote for him. Doing all we can to remove him from office is all we can do.

Ready4ONE will probably vote for 4 more years of this mess. Encourage others not to.

[mawilson 2,133]

When tribal elders from the remote Pakistani region of North Waziristan travelled to Islamabad last week to protest against CIA drone strikes, a teenager called Tariq Khan was among them.

A BBC team caught him on camera, sitting near the front of a tribal assembly, or jirga, listening carefully.

Four days later he was dead – killed by one of the drones he was protesting against.

LOL - good job. Coincidence? I think not! Kill the little terrorist wannabes while they're still young.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

There is noting you can do here by arguing with people that do not care. The ONLY thing you can do is not vote for the gy that does this and encourage anyone you know to also not vote for him. Doing all we can to remove him from office is all we can do.

Ready4ONE will probably vote for 4 more years of this mess. Encourage others not to.

How are either of my posts indicative of not caring? That is just plain silly.

Edited November 3, 2011 by ready4ONE