Drone killing has long been billed by the military as a cleaner, smarter way to conduct war. The standard marketing line has been that with drones it is possible to neutralize even elusive enemies such as factional terrorists while sparing the lives of innocent persons, and without sacrificing any soldiers at all. The most effective propagandist throughout the period when drone assassination was redefined as “targeted killing” and normalized as a standard operating procedure was John Brennan, who served as Barack Obama’s drone killing czar before being promoted to the position of CIA...
drone strikes
KPFA Saturday Evening News Segment: Extrajudicial Execution Using Lethal Drones
Laurie Calhoun answers David Rosenberg's questions about drone killing and whether President Biden is likely to curtail the practice. The drone discussion spans minutes 10:15 to 13:20 of the Saturday Evening program on March 26, 2022. (Recorded on March 25, 2022). Other segments of the news report cover the crises in Ukraine and Yemen. https://archives.kpfa.org/data/20220326-Sat1800.mp3
U.S. Hypocrisy on War Crimes
U.S. hypocrisy on war crimes is discussed by Laurie Calhoun from minutes 12 to 16:30 of this report on WBAI News with Paul DeRienzo. https://soundcloud.com/user-879607737/032422-nato-war-drums-ukraine-at-month-one-food-shortages-amazon-protest-in-newark?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
COI #247: Zelensky Dreams of a NATO No Fly Zone in Ukraine
On COI #247, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman cover the latest Ukraine news, a potential deal to end the war, this weekend’s Iranian missile attack in northern Iraq, as well as recent Israeli drone strikes inside Iran. Kyle updates the war and the situation on the ground in Ukraine. There are increasing signals that Kiev and Moscow are approaching a deal to end the war. However, speaking to Canadian and American lawmakers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has continued to demand a NATO-imposed No Fly Zone in Ukraine. Zelensky’s speech to the U.S. Congress invoked Pearl Harbor, 9/11,...
Pentagon Report Blames Poor Leadership, ‘Culture of Complacency’ for Deadly 2020 Attack in Kenya
The Department of Defense has issued two reviews of the 2020 al-Shabaab attack on the Camp Simba military base in Kenya that killed three Americans. The reports name poor leadership, inadequate training and a “culture of complacency” as the leading causes that allowed the attack to succeed, according to sources that spoke to the AP before the report was released. The attack under review occurred on January 5, 2020 in Manda Bay, Kenya, where al-Shabaab – a Somalia-based jihadist faction – carried out a pre-dawn raid initiated by launching an RPG at an American surveillance aircraft. The...
From GITMO to the ‘Killing Machine’
Twenty years ago, on January 11, 2002, the prison at Guantánamo Bay (GITMO) admitted its first round of post-9/11 terrorist suspects. Two recent films, The Mauritanian (2021) and The Forever Prisoner (2021), chart parts of the ugly history of the facility, during which acts of torture were rebranded by officials as “enhanced interrogation techniques” (EIT) and inflicted on at least 119 of the 780 men held at GITMO over the course of the Global War on Terror. The story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who was cleared for release in 2010 but remained incarcerated for another seven years as the...
COI #196: Generating a Conflict in Ukraine guest Dave DeCamp
On COI #196, Dave DeCamp - News Editor at Antiwar.com - returns to explain escalating tensions with Russia over Ukraine. In recent weeks the US has engaged in military drills along Russia’s western border while encouraging a Ukrainian military build-up. The result has been Cold War-style threats including deploying more nuclear weapons into eastern Europe. Dave breaks down Biden’s Middle East policy. US drone strikes under Biden are far lower than Trump. Kyle and Dave compare Biden and Trump’s Middle East policies. Dave discusses a recent effort by the Marshall Islands to get more aid...
News Roundup 11/1/21
US News Arizona may use its National Guard to fill staffing shortages at prisons. [Link] New York state will divest from Ben and Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, over the ice cream company’s decision not to sell ice cream in the West Bank settlements. [Link] A jury of eight military officers sentenced Gitmo detainee Majid Khan to the minimum sentence of 26 years. Seven of the eight jurors also wrote a letter to the court condemning the torture Khan faced at the hands of the US. [Link] Taiwan The US will donate 1.5 million Covid vaccine doses to Taiwan. [Link] The de facto ambassador to...
News Roundup 10/26/21
US News The Senate NDAA will include funding for people who claim to be suffering from “Havana Syndrome.” [Link] Afghanistan Reports say 16 people died in Taliban operations against alleged ISIS-K kidnappers. Ten of the dead are civilians. [Link] Israel Israel labeled six human rights groups that advocate for Palestinians as terrorist organizations. The Israeli envoy to the US will meet with American officials to explain the decision. [Link] Only 10% of people in Gaza have access to clean drinking water. A quarter of illnesses in Gaza are estimated to be caused by unsafe water. [Link]...
Double Standard Drones
On August 29, 2021, the U.S. forces in Afghanistan conducted an airstrike against an ISIS-K leader in Kabul. Tensions had been running high throughout the city, as just several days ago a deadly terrorist attack was carried out that killed over 70 people, including Afghanistan civilians and U.S. service members. A sigh of relief was felt across the country after the strike, bringing the knowledge that we were fighting back against those who were trying to use terrorism as innocent targets. Even though the U.S. was pulling out of Afghanistan, we were still bringing the fight to them!...