Sunday, June 28, 2009
Drone Pilots in Iraq (US Air Force photo by Steve Horton)
Shortly after taking command of the military campaign in Afghanistan, U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal pledged American forces would be more selective and careful in the use of airstrikes against the Taliban in order to reduce the number of civilian casualties. Even when engaging Taliban forces in tough ground battles, McChrystal said, aerial assaults would be curtailed if fighting was taking place in populated areas
The former Special Operations commander told the media, “Air power contains the seeds of our own destruction if we do not use it responsibly. We can lose this fight.”
But only 48 hours after McChrystal’s declaration, a U.S. unmanned drone launched a missile strike in South Waziristan, Pakistan, killing more than 60 people attending the funeral of a Taliban fighter. The death toll was reportedly the highest yet from U.S. air strikes, which have increasingly involved unmanned aircraft since President Barack Obama assumed office.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Operation Enduring Folly: US Kills 60 More in Pakistan Air Strike (by Pierre Tristam, About.com)
Why Was Pakistan Drone Strike So Deadly? (by David Hambling, Wired)
U.S. Drone Strike Said to Kill 60 in Pakistan (by Pir Zubair Shah and Salman Masood, New York Times)
U.S. Tightens Airstrike Policy in Afghanistan (by Dexter Filkins, New York Times)
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