Civilian death by drone attacks is high: but US sidesteps the issue arguing legality
‘Washington, DC. 08 May (Asiantribune.com): John Brennan, assistant to the US president for homeland security and counterterrorism, speaking on April 30 at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. acknowledging for the first time the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAE or Drones) declared that “Strikes against individuals are subject to high levels of scrutiny and ordered when there is a high degree of confidence that civilians will not be injured or killed, “except in the rarest of circumstances.”
Dismissing the notion that the US drone attacks in the Afghan-Pakistan-Somalia and other targeted geographical areas cause the deaths of unarmed civilians, Obama administration’s top terrorism adviser further reiterated “Targeted strikes conform to the principle of distinction—the idea that only military objectives may be intentionally targeted and that civilians are protected from being intentionally targeted. With the unprecedented ability of remotely piloted aircraft to precisely target a military objective while minimizing collateral damage, one could argue that never before has there been a weapon that allows us to distinguish more effectively between an al-Qaeda terrorist and innocent civilians.”
Speaking on a previous occasion in June 2011 about the preceding year, he said “there hasn’t been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities we’ve been able to develop.”Mr. Brennan later adjusted his statement somewhat, saying, “Fortunately, for more than a year, due to our discretion and precision, the U.S. government has not found credible evidence of collateral deaths resulting from U.S. counterterrorism operations outside of Afghanistan or Iraq.”
In remarks on April 30, US counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan admitted for the first time that US drones have killed civilians. But he said “It is exceedingly rare, but it has happened,” he said.
This is just not true says the UK-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism the group that keeps the best count of casualties from U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. According to its figures, since 2004, U.S. has killed between about 2,500-3,000 people in Pakistan. Of those, between 479 and 811 were civilians, 174 of them children.
Here are the statistics that the mainstream media in the United States has not disclosed, and what Mr. Brennan endeavors to side step documented by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.CIA Drone Strikes in Pakistan 2004 – 2012
Total US strikes: 321
Obama strikes: 269
Total reported killed: 2,429 - 3,097
Civilians reported killed: 479 – 811
Children reported killed: 174
Total reported injured: 1,169-1,281
US Covert Action in Yemen 2002 – 2012
Total US strikes : 41 - 128
Total US drone strikes: 31 - 67
Total reported killed: 294 - 651
Civilians reported killed: 55 - 105
Children reported killed: 24
US Covert Action in Somalia 2007 – 2012
Total US strikes: 10 - 21
Total US drone strikes: 3 - 9
Total reported killed: 58 - 169
Civilians reported killed: 11 - 57
Children reported killed: 1 - 3’
