For years, the US has flown aerial drones over the mountainous regions of western Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Operated by the CIA, the drones are launched by ground crews in Afghanistn but flown remotely — via satellite link — by pilots based near Las Vegas, Nevada. Drones were originally designed mainly for aerial reconnaissance, but in Afghanistan and Pakistan they are used chiefly to locate Taliban, Al Qaida, and other insurgent forces, and fire deadly missiles at them. In fact, the Obama administration has greatly increased the use of the drones and the number of drone-launched missile strikes in Pakistan.
Predator drone firing missile
Of course, launching missiles from high-flying drones against targets far below seen through video cameras relaying images via satellite to bases half a world away is highly error-prone. The images are poor and delayed by a second or so, and operator commands to the drones are similarly delayed. Thus, drone pilots base fire/no-fire decisions on information that is already outdated by the time they see it and even more outdated by the time their commands get back to the drones.
Therefore, the missiles often miss their targets, hitting other people and vehicles instead. Estimates of the ratio of civilian deaths to total deaths from drone-launched missile strikes range from about one third of those killed to over 90%.
Contributing to those statistics, unwillingly, was farmer Daraz Khan, who was blown to bits by a missile fired from a drone while he and two colleagues searched for scrap metal in the mountains. The drone operator targeted Khan because he was tall and had a beard.
Furthermore, the missiles contain high-power explosives that pulverize entire buildings, so even when they hit their intended targets, people who have the misfortune to be nearby are often killed or injured, and neighboring structures are damaged. “Collateral damage” they call it.
Even when they don’t launch missiles, drones buzzing high over towns and farms are a huge source of stress and psychological trauma for civilians, especially parents and children. Imagine what it would do to your psyche if you constantly had to be keeping an eye on a drone circling high over your neighborhood — you know it can fire missiles at you, but you can’t predict when or why.
For obvious reasons, the drones are highly unpopular in Pakistan. They are a significant source of anti-US sentiment.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Pakistani government recently denied a US request to expand the areas in that country over which the US can fly aerial drones and launch missile-strikes. The US wants to use the drones in areas other than the tribal mountain regions bordering Afghanistan, but the Pakistani government has said “no”. [Read Full Story]
They should say “Hell no!” and they should revoke permission to use them anywhere over their country.
