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Lindsey Graham puts drone deaths at 4,700

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:15:00 +0000

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a staunch supporter of the U.S. drone wars, Wednesday become the first government official to put a number on the estimated drone strike death toll.

"We've killed 4,700," Graham said during a speech at a South Carolina rotary club, reported on by the local Easley Patch and flagged by Al Jazeera.

"This is the first time a US official has put a total number on it," said Micah Zenko, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations told Al Jazeera, but Graham's office stated that the senator was only repeating "the figure that has been publicly reported and disseminated on cable news." Graham's figure aligns with estimates from groups included the U.K.-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ), which has calculate that between 3,072 and 4,756 people have been killed by U.S. drones in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

Graham's figure did not distinguish between "combatant" and "civilian" casualties -- a distinction which has, in the War on Terror, prompted debate. But the senator did reportedly say, "Sometimes you hit innocent people, and I hate that, but we're at war, and we've taken out some very senior members of al-Qaida."

U.S. drones killed more Afghan civilians in 2012

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 19:25:00 +0000

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The number of U.S. drone strikes in Afghanistan jumped 72 percent in 2012, killing at least 16 civilians in a sharp increase from the previous year, the U.N. said Tuesday in a sign of the changing mission as international forces prepare to withdraw combat forces in less than two years.

The U.S. and NATO have long pledged to keep up the fight against al-Qaida and other militants even as they draw down forces. And drones are expected to take on a greater role as the Americans focus more on special forces operations.

Overall, the full-year toll of civilian deaths in 2012 declined compared to the previous year, according to an annual U.N. report. But the toll spiked in the second half of the year, compared to the same period a year earlier.

That spike suggests the country is likely to face continued violence as the Taliban and other militants fight for control following the impending withdrawal of U.S. and allied combat forces.

Conflict-related violence also struck more women and girls last year, with 301 killed and 563 wounded - a 20 percent increase from 2011, the report said.

Fact-checking Feinstein on civilian drone deaths

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:35:00 +0000

Opening the Senate confirmation hearing for CIA director nominee John Brennan, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) offered a mini panegyric to drone strikes. She lamented the secrecy surrounding the CIA's drone program as she wanted to be able to speak more openly about its successes and the minimal collateral damage of drone wars. She stated that civilian casualties caused by U.S. drone strikes each year has "typically been in the single digits."

Later in the hearing, Brennan rejected claims that drone strikes were provoking a backlash of anti-American sentiment. He said citizens are instead grateful to be rescued from the grip of al-Qaida. But commentators have been swift to challenge Feinstein's claims based on contradicting open-source reports and studies. As both the Washington Post and the Guardian note, civilian death numbers are difficult to tabulate with certainty (indeed, the very question of how the administration categorizes "civilian" or "enemy combatant" is in itself contentious). Suffice to say that Feinstein's "single digits" comments stands at odds with others' findings.

U.N. team to investigate civilian drone deaths

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 21:40:00 +0000

The United Nations plans to set up a special investigation unit in early 2013 to look at incidents of civilian death in U.S. drone strikes. Speaking Thursday at Harvard Law School, U.N. special rapporteur Ben Emmerson QC, who monitors counter-terrorism programs, announced plans for the investigative team, which will be based in Geneva. According to the UK's Bureau of Investigative Journalism, "U.N. investigators have been critical of U.S. ‘extrajudicial executions’ since they began in 2002. The new Geneva-based unit will also look at the legality of the program."

Emmerson said in his Harvard announcement, "If the relevant states are not willing to establish effective independent monitoring mechanisms … then it may in the last resort be necessary for the U.N. to act." He noted: