quoted.news: The Drone Papers
This is the October 19, 2015 edition of the quoted.news newsletter. Sign up here.
Last week, the Intercept released a 10-part report, including a glossary and documentation, on recently leaked intelligence, giving an inside look at the drone strikes used to anonymously kill targets overseas. Here are summaries of the first five.
Part 1: The Assassination Complex by Jeremy Scahill for Intercept (10,345 tweets, 163 unique quotes.)
“There has been intense focus on the technology of remote killing” (4 shares), rather than “a broader examination of the state’s power over life and death” (1). “Drones are a tool, not a policy. The policy is assassination” (846). Congress has never officially defined what “assassination” means, giving leeway to rephrasing “assassinations” as “targeted killings” (252). Our military has become “addicted to this machine” (103).
The source of the documents is anonymous, and the Intercept has printed the source’s reasons for being a whistleblower: “The public has a right to understand the process by which people are placed on kill lists” (42). “We’re allowing this to happen. And by ‘we,’ I mean every American citizen” (9).
Part 2: A Visual Glossary by Josh Begley for Intercept (4,048 tweets, 38 unique quotes.)
As the title suggests, this is a page you should look at. It even shows the seating arrangements of those who watch the killings take place. “Most drone strikes are aimed at phones” (24). “When drone operators hit their target, killing the person they intend to kill, that person is called a ‘jackpot.’” (1 share). “When they miss their target and end up killing someone else they label that person EKIA or ‘Enemy Killed In Action’” (11). Yes, many non-targets are still classified as “enemies.”
Part 3: The Kill Chain by Cora Currier for Intercept (2,121 tweets, 18 unique quotes.)
The chain ends at the President, who approves a 60-day window for the kill to take place. More attention is made to ensure the target is there than to make sure citizens are not. “In contrast to the White House statement, the ‘near certainty’ standard is not applied to civilians” (9 shares).
Part 4: Find, Fix, Finish by Jeremy Scahill for Intercept (1,094 tweets, 12 unique quotes.)
“As of August 2015, more than 490 people had been killed in drone strikes in Yemen alone” (3 shares). “When you hear the phrase ‘capture/kill,’ capture is actually a misnomer” (2), said Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. Regarding the low cots and lack of U.S. casualties, “it plays well domestically, and it is unpopular only in other countries” (6), said Adm. Dennis Blair. The “White House relies heavily on drone strikes for reasons of expediency, rather than effectiveness” (1). Even successful targets have a price. According to Lt. Gen. Flynn, “it just made them a martyr, it just created a new reason to fight us even harder” (1)
Part 5: Manhunting in the Hindu Kush by Ryan Devereaux for Intercept (2,993 tweets, 22 unique quotes.)
“Nearly nine out of 10 people who died in airstrikes were not the Americans’ direct targets” (639). Although “every jackpot is one person off the list” (12), “drone strikes in Afghanistan were 10 times more likely to kill civilians than conventional aircraft” (2). “We assume that they’re surgical but they’re not” (1). “The materials obtained by The Intercept make just one explicit mention of civilian casualties” (1). This has been hidden from the public because, “labeling the dead as ‘enemies’ until proven otherwise is commonplace” (25).
Other parts did not get enough shares on Twitter for me to create summaries. I think part of that is because everything was released at once, and it takes multiple hours to read through. I highly recommend reading the entire series, or at least Part 1, which gives a good overview.
Thanks for reading.
Originally published at tinyletter.com.
