CIA Predators

They are more than spy planes. They call them “Predators,” and this no one doubts. Every day, CIA drones live up to their name in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. According to the Pentagon and the White House, they search for “terrorists,” but the result of their search is the death of many civilians – which, in total hypocrisy and disregard for human life, is referred to as “collateral damage” – and panic in those who feel hunted by these potent tools of war without knowing why.

This is documented very well in an investigative study done by New York University and Stanford University, entitled “Living Under Drones: Death, Injury, and Trauma to Civilians.” [The feeling is] due to U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan. The study describes what is already well-known to Perogrullo: The drones (unmanned aircraft) not only assassinate known terrorists as identified by a large, secret Pentagon; they also target the civilian population.

Until now, the military hierarchy of the United States and successive White House occupants – now departed Republican George Bush, as well as the Democrat Barack Obama – have defended the use of these drones, arguing that the attacks allow surgical precision. However, the study shatters this reasoning. The investigation concludes that this narrative is false after performing exhaustive field work in Pakistan that included more than 130 interviews with victims, witnesses, experts, humanitarian workers and doctors.

It is impossible to quantify the exact number of people who have been struck by these modern aircraft since Bush initiated this type of warfare, which is not among the U.S. military command. The Pentagon should keep track. Perhaps it does, but it’s confidential or classified information that aims to protect the drone program.

According to the authors of the study, the “best information available” – which was gathered by the Office of Investigative Journalism – refers to between 2,652 and 3,325 people that have been assassinated in Pakistan between June 2004 and the middle of September of this year. Between 474 and 881 of those were civilians, including 176 children. It is estimated that another 1,300 people were injured during this period, according to the Guardian.

The report by New York University and Stanford also concludes that of the total assassinated, only two communicated with military leaders for certain.

The investigators also showed the damage [that goes beyond] death and physical injury to the everyday life of civilians. I’m speaking of terror, psychological wounds and a life imposed upon by surveillance strikes and shrapnel from the sky.

Firoz Ali Khan, a merchant from the city of Miranshah, emphasizes that remote-controlled aircrafts are permanently suspended in the air 24 hours a day, and “we don’t know when they are going to attack. … The people are afraid of death. … The children, the women, all of them are psychologically affected. They look to the sky to see if there are aircrafts, …” cites the British newspaper.

According to the study, after the assassination of its target – the supposed terrorist – the drones return to the scene and open fire on the people of the community, doctors and humanitarian workers who turn up to assist the victim.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a woman or child. From a military base in Arizona or Nevada, the pilot only has to press a button while taking a sip of coffee, as if playing against a computer and lacking risks.

The Independent reports that as of June 6, when the drones attacked the village of Datta Khel in North Waziristan, about 345 of these aircraft lunges were estimated to have occurred.

Some media claim that the actions of the drones in Pakistan have diminished since a NATO attack in Nov. 2011, which further strained relations between Islamabad and Washington. However, residents of the community registered by the CIA and the Pentagon, as well as activists and lawyers of the victims, now say the tactics of these raids is in the “second strike.” The result is always a larger number of civilians killed.

It’s an undeclared war. There are no answer to anyone. Surely many Pakistanis trusted that their nightmare would end with the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda. But this race has no end. Obama follows Bush’s wishes: a war without borders and against the world. And his best weapon is these drones.