Media exposes false perceptions and US’s Freedom of Expression11 May 2012
by editor | May 12, 2012 3:40 am
“Analysis: Why we must name all drone attack victims”
An article, “Analysis: Why we must name all drone attack victims”, published in Bureau of Investigative Journalism (UK), by Chris Woods on 10 May 2012 highlights that the Bureau recently presented at a Washington DC drone summit – which reveal some startling truths about the US drone campaign. This has drawn attention of The Perceptor Group for study as the group noticed that this analysis fails to cover the Legal aspect of Extra judicial killings and innocent deaths due to drone attacks.
What About The Hundreds Of Innocent People WE Are
Killing With OUR Drone Strikes In Pakistan!”Watch
Freedom of expression in America(Here)
The Important points covered in the analysis are:-
a. To date in Pak, we have been able to identify 170 named mtts killed by the CIA in more than 300 drone strikes. Among them are many snr figures, incl Baitullah Mehsud, ldr of the Pak Tbn; Ilyas Kashmiri, an ALQ linked strategist; and Nek Mohammed, once a mtt thorn in Pak side.
b. Certainly these drone strikes have severely affected the ability of mtts to op openly in Pak tribal areas. The recently-declassified ‘bin Laden papers’ talk of the impact of the CIA’s attks, with the Tbn ‘frankly exhausted from the en air bombardments.’
c. The CIA’s own human int-gathering abilities are so poor in Pak that it can no longer identify civ killed on the gr. Perhaps the Agency has been misleading Congress and the President about the true extent of civ deaths.
d. The covert drone war appears to be entering a new phase. Until recently, strikes were carried out with the tacit co-op of host govts. But now Isb is saying no. Recent CIA strikes in Pak have been pub condemned by the govt as being ‘in total contravention of intl law.’ The strikes are carrying on regardless.
e. By showing only one side of the coin, we risk presenting a distorted picture of this new form of warfare. There is an obligation to identify all of those killed – not just the bad guys.
Perceptor’s Research
- The study rightly brings out that by showing one side of the coin they are risking a distorted picture of new warfare by only naming the bad guys and not talking about the “Good Guys/Innocents” being killed in these operations on one hand and on the other hand ignoring “legality of extrajudicial killing of even the bad guys”.
- A research was carried out to address the above two issues. The outcome is as under:-
a. Fallout of drone attacks against Pakistan is continued. Conflict Monitoring Center gives following figures:-
- Attacks since 2004 till now - 318, Human Beings Killed Since 2004 till now - 2769
- Drone Attacks in 2011 – 75, Human Beings Killed in 2011 - 609
- Drone Attacks in 2012 – 15 , Human Beings killed in 2012 – 108
b. The Year of the Drone- An Analysis of U.S. Drone Strikes in Pakistan, 2004-2012 published on Wikipedia highlights that US Drone Strike statistic based on months of research by a team of journalists of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism gives following figures:-
- Total reported killed: 2,433 – 3,093
- Civilians reported killed: 467 – 815
- Children reported killed: 178
- Total reported injured: 1,163 -1,268
- Strikes under the Bush Administration: 52
- Strikes under the Obama Administration: 267
- Total strikes: 319
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
- A study called ‘The Year of the Drone” published in February 2010 by the New America Foundation found that from a total of 114 drone strikes in Pak between 2004 and early 2010, approximately between 834and 1,216 individuals had been killed. About two thirds of whom were thought to be militants and one third were civilians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
c. An article “Civilian death by drone attacks is high: but US sidesteps the issue arguing legality” by Daya Gamage on 09 May 2012 highlights that 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
The US counterterrorism adviser reassured: “As the President and others have acknowledged, there have indeed been instances when—despite the extraordinary precautions we take—civilians have been accidently injured, or worse, killed in these strikes. It is exceedingly rare, but it has happened.” Nevertheless, the account of civilian death registered by credible international organizations gives a different story as mentioned before.
Are Drone Strikes Legal? Koh Offers Assurances, Not Answers
Following years of official silence, State Department Legal Advisor Harold Koh’s statements on the legality of drone strikes last week were welcomed by many.
But Koh failed to address serious concerns over the U.S.’s use of drones to kill al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, and in particular the debate over strikes in Pakistan and other areas outside Afghanistan. Hopefully Koh’s remarks indicate that a fuller account of the U.S.’s legal position is forthcoming. But for now, the program remains shrouded in secrecy and Koh’s mere assertions of the program’s legality fail to provide the kind of accountability
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rogers/are-drone-strikes-legal-k_b_524115.html
Bush Found Guilty Of War Crimes
By Yvonne Ridley
May 11, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Kuala Lumpur — IT’S OFFICIAL – George W Bush is a war criminal.
In what is the first ever conviction of its kind anywhere in the world, the former US President and seven key members of his administration were today (Friday) found guilty of war crimes.
Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo were tried in absentia in Malaysia.
The trial held in Kuala Lumpur heard harrowing witness accounts from victims of torture who suffered at the hands of US soldiers and contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They included testimony from British man Moazzam Begg, an ex-Guantanamo detainee and Iraqi woman Jameelah Abbas Hameedi who was tortured in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.
At the end of the week-long hearing, the five-panel tribunal unanimously delivered guilty verdicts against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their key legal advisors who were all convicted as war criminals for torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.
Full transcripts of the charges, witness statements and other relevant material will now be sent to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council.
The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission is also asking that the names of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Yoo, Bybee, Addington and Haynes be entered and included in the Commission’s Register of War Criminals for public record.
The tribunal is the initiative of Malaysia’s retired Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who staunchly opposed the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
This is a cross post from International Clearing House
Source URL: http://www.mediapoint.pk/media-exposes-false-perceptions-11-may-2012/