Comment

Overnight Weirdness: "Belly"

89
Birth Control Works10/16/2015 5:07:54 am PDT

from my Policy Mic email:

Nearly 85% of people killed by U.S. drones in recent strikes were unintended targets. The Intercept released an in-depth report Thursday revealing the nation’s Operation Haymaker campaign (meant to target Al Qaeda and Taliban higher ups) killed more than 200 people

— but only 35 were enemy targets. It’s unclear how long the mission lasted, but by the end of 2013, the number of civilian casualties by drones in Afghanistan tripled from the prior year.

This raises an important question: Drone attacks, laser-guided bombs and “nonlethal weapons” were supposed to reduce civilian casualties and suffering. But are they actually making war more humane — or is killing just becoming easier?

THE DRONE PAPERS

The Intercept has obtained a cache of secret documents detailing the inner workings of the U.S. military’s assassination program in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The documents, provided by a whistleblower, offer an unprecedented glimpse into Obama’s drone wars.