Filmmaker
Robert Greenwald who has returned from a trip to Pakistan reports that done
strikes by the United States are causing civilian casualties, particularly among
children in Pakistan and Yemen.
"During my
recent trip to Pakistan as part of our upcoming documentary film, Drones
Exposed, I was struck most by the stories told to me by children who had
experienced a U.S. drone strike firsthand. The impact of America’s drone war in
the likes of Pakistan and Yemen will linger on, especially for the loved ones of
the 178 children killed in those countries by U.S. drone strikes," he wrote for
the Huffington Post.
"War Costs’
latest video brings attention to the children who have died as a result of drone
strikes. The video names some of the children who perished in these strikes, and
points out the obfuscation tactics of American officials who will not own up to
the significant amount of civilian casualties that have occurred due to this
legally- and morally-dubious policy," he said.
"In addition to
the video, War Costs offers a report detailing the effects of drone strikes on
children. The findings come mainly from the diligent investigative reporting of
TBIJ and the groundbreaking reports on the impact of drone strikes by Stanford
and New York University researchers (Living Under Drones: Death, Injury and
Trauma to Civilians from U.S. Drone Practices in Pakistan) and researchers at
Columbia University (The Civilian Impact of Drones: Unexamined Costs, Unanswered
Questions)," Greenwald explained.
"In an effort to
compel answers about why these innocent civilians have died without
acknowledgement or explanation from the U.S. government, War Costs is calling on
the U.S. House of Representatives to debate and pass Rep. Dennis Kucinich's bill
that calls for more transparency regarding U.S. drone strike policy," he said.
The United
Nations has identified the U.S. as the world's number one user of "targeted
killings" largely due to its drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The CIA and the
U.S. military have used drones to target and kill those Washington describes as
“suspected militants” in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and
Libya. Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta believes that it’s not enough to continue the drone
strikes and commando raids in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, but they’ve got to
expand “outside declared combat zones” to places like Nigeria, Mali and even
Libya. Wired.com In 2008, after
Barack Obama won the presidency in the U.S., the drone strikes escalated and
soon began occurring almost weekly, later nearly daily, and so became a
permanent feature of life for those living in the tribal borderlands of northern
Pakistan. An October
report on the secret U.S. drone war in Pakistan says the attacks have killed far
more civilians than acknowledged, traumatized a nation and undermined
international law. In "Living Under Drones," researchers conclude the drone
strikes "terrorize men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and
psychological trauma among civilian communities." Democracy Now
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