Author: Laurie Calhoun

I was disturbed to learn of the recent mass killing by the US government of yet another group of brown-skinned persons of unknown identity, this time in Yemen. Only two weeks ago, reports surfaced of a mission in Somalia which culminated in the deaths of an estimated 150+ terrorist suspects. The victims in Yemen, as is customary, were identified post-mortem as persons all of whom posed an “imminent threat” to US forces and allies. The estimated number of deaths in Yemen from the attack on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, is more than 50, with nearly as many people harmed. None of the dead were civilians, according to US officials.

“None of the dead were civilians” is a claim frequently made by drone program administrators, including John Brennan, who while serving as Obama’s top counterterrorism advisor announced in 2011 in apparent sincerity that there had been no collateral deaths from the CIA’s targeted killing program during the previous year. Later it emerged that the administration had simply redefined the concept of “civilian” so as to exclude male persons from about 16 to 50 or 55 years of age. That’s right: in one of the worst examples of racial profiling in human history, able-bodied males in tribal regions are assumed to be terrorists until proven otherwise.

Continue reading “Another Mass Killing in Yemen and the Drone Program Ponzi Scheme”

The US Army recently announced that they are accepting contract bids for the production of microdrones to be carried along by deployed soldiers in their kits. Needless to say, the idea was painted as undeniably good: to help protect “our troops”. Characterized in such a way, the idea could not possibly be met with resistance by any legislator. Companies will be contracted, and funds lavished upon the developers and builders of the new microdrones, having been made to seem as essential to a brave soldier as a Kevlar vest or an armored Humvee – and a bargain to boot! The fact that microdrones will be just as good – if not better – for asymmetrical, factional fighters is best left unsaid, at least from the perspective of all of the many parties likely to profit from the initiative, including the experts who assess the costs and benefits of the plan.

Microdrones, which weigh only 150 grams or so, are already being produced, and DARPA solicited bids earlier for its Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program. The idea pitched at that time was to produce a drone which could enter buildings – such as homes – and snoop around to see what’s going on. On a not unrelated note, a recently released report revealed that “a handful of” US military drones have spent some time hovering in homeland skies, “in support of civilian authorities”. The military drones operating above US soil have been used for surveillance purposes only – so far. Connecting a few dots, and extrapolating from the slippery slope which the US government continues to slide down, I predict that in the not-too-distant future, microdrones will be used in the homeland to snoop on US citizen suspects, after which larger drones will be used to kill them. Does that sound too far-fetched?

Continue reading “Microdrones and What to Expect Next From the ‘Smart Warriors’”

I was on Twitter when the news broke on March 7, 2016. Initial reports stated that a drone strike had killed 150+ Al Shabaab terrorists in Somalia who were preparing for an “imminent” attack on US forces. My immediate reaction was: How could a single drone strike kill 150+ people? A few minutes later, emended news reports began to surface. In fact, the group of men – all allegedly operational terrorists involved in the allegedly “imminent” attack – were destroyed by a combination of drone strikes and manned bomber strikes. Okay, I thought, sonow we are at war with Somalia, too, on top of Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Libya, and Syria?

The use of manned bombers along with drones in Somalia to kill a very large number of human beings claimed to have been on the verge of perpetrating evil against US forces represents yet another step along a continuum of ever-more lethal US foreign policy.

In the beginning, shortly after September 11, 2001, drone strikes were used against named, “high-value” targets believed to have already engaged in terrorist attacks culminating in the deaths of innocent people. Next, “medium-value” targets were hunted down and killed. Eventually, foot soldiers became the primary targets, and drone strikes began to be used against unnamed suspects, whose comportment corresponded to a “disposition matrix” of behaviors thought to be typical of known terrorists.

Continue reading “Lethal Creep in Action: The Slaughter of 150+ Somali ‘Terrorist Suspects’”

It has been two years since the US government-commissioned Stimson Task Force on US Drone Policy issued its first report in 2014. I found the text of that document rather gentle on the drone warriors, but was not too surprised to find the group affirming the right of the US government to use remote-control killing technology in its counterterrorism initiatives. After all, some of the task force members were involved in the drone industry and so could not be expected to object to the very idea of targeted killing. Given that the authors of the report were selected by the government to assess the government’s own program, it was something of a relief to find that there was any significant criticism at all. There seemed to be hope that the Obama administration would take appropriate actions in response to the Stimson Report recommendations:

1. Conduct a strategic review and cost-benefit analysis of the role of lethal UAVs in targeted counterterrorism strikes
2. Improve transparency in targeted UAV strikes:
   1. Acknowledge use of lethal force in foreign countries, both to Congress and to the American Public
   2. Release information on:
      1. Approximate number of strikes carried out by the military
      2. Approximate number of strikes carried out by the CIA
      3. General location of strikes
      4. Number of those known to have been killed
      5. Number of civilians known to have been killed
      6. Identities of civilians known to have been killed
   3. Order preparation and public release of a detailed report explaining legal basis under domestic and international law of U.S. lethal drone program
3. Transfer general responsibility for lethal drone strikes from the CIA to the military
4. Develop more robust oversight and accountability mechanisms for targeted strikes outside of traditional battlefields
   1. Create a nonpartisan independent commission to review lethal UAV policy
5. Foster the development of appropriate international norms for use of lethal force outside of traditional battlefields
6. Assess UAV-related technological developments and likely future trends, and develop an interagency research and development strategy geared toward advancing U.S. national security interests in a manner consistent with U.S. values
7. Review and reform UAV-related export control rules and FAA rules
8. FAA should accelerate its efforts to meet the requirements of the 2012 FAA Reauthorization Bill

Continue reading “EPIC FAIL: The Stimson Center Report Card on US Lethal Drone Policy”

Lethal drones have come to symbolize “smart power” to Democrats. In the first Democratic presidential debate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went so far as to characterize the “no boots on the ground” 2011 intervention in Libya as “smart power at its best”. Judging by their campaign trail rhetoric, Republican candidates tend to believe the opposite: drones are not a symbol of smartness and savvy, but of weakness. Usually drones are not mentioned at all, but at last night’s Republican debate in New Hampshire, they were positively “dissed”.

Senator Ted Cruz has enthusiastically proclaimed that he will “carpet bomb” ISIS strongholds and make the sand “glow”, suggesting his readiness even to use nuclear weapons against the latest bearers of the Al Qaeda torch. When asked whether he knows that ISIS is embedded among civilian populations, Cruz did not back down from his hawkish plans, essentially replying to the question that it doesn’t matter where the members of ISIS live. He will crush them, wherever they may be, and whomever they may be with. Cruz’s answer had a familiar ring because whenever Republican candidates are asked about rules of engagement (ROE), they afford themselves of the opportunity to complain that President Barack Obama has diminished the military, not only through budget cuts, but also by “tying their hands”. The explanation for the chaos in the Middle East, according to Republicans, is that Obama has not permitted the US military to do what needs to be done.

Continue reading “Drones and Death in the 8th Republican Presidential Debate”

ISIS, or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is a group of radical fundamentalist anti-Western Islamists who believe that Muslims must follow strict Sharia law and forsake cultural perversions such as capitalistic greed and social liberty. A very moralistic lot, ISIS believes that human beings should be guided by a strict and literal reading of the Koran – which is to say, what they interpret it to mean. The highest calling is jihad, to do Allah’s work on earth, for which a soldier will be rewarded in heaven. Making the ultimate sacrifice of his life will yield the greatest reward. Just as in Christianity, whatever happens on this planet is relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Eternity lasts forever, while life on earth is transitory.

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, radical Islamists coalesced under the name ISIS and collaborated with Al Qaeda. Both Iraqis and foreigners joined the ranks of the insurgents as militants and civilians were being slaughtered by the Western occupiers. ISIS eventually separated from Al Qaeda (apparently not radical enough) and went on to establish outposts in other lands, including Syria, where their aim has been to oust President Bashar al-Assad and establish a caliphate.

Continue reading “A Short History of ISIS, the Evil Enemy du Jour”