nastyleg
08-12-2011, 12:22 AM
CIA claim of no civilian deaths from drone strikes is disputed
Published: August 11, 2011
The civilian toll of the CIA's campaign, which is widely credited with disrupting al-Qaida and its allies in Pakistan’s tribal area, has been in bitter dispute since the strikes were accelerated in 2008. Accounts from official and unofficial sources are so at odds that they often seem to describe different events, according to The New York Times.
The top U.S. counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, says the CIA strikes have killed more than 600 militants since May 2010 with no confirmed civilian casualties. But some experts -- including those who support the program -- told the NYT that's highly unlikely, since the militants operate not from military bases but from areas with families and neighbors around.
Determinining the precision of the drone strikes is important, NYT said, because the U.S. is expanding the drone program into Somalia and Yemen, and other nations are expected to follow suit.
Read more about the dispute over drones' civilian casualties in the New York Times
http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/cia-claim-of-no-civilian-deaths-from-drone-strikes-is-disputed-1.151897
Published: August 11, 2011
The civilian toll of the CIA's campaign, which is widely credited with disrupting al-Qaida and its allies in Pakistan’s tribal area, has been in bitter dispute since the strikes were accelerated in 2008. Accounts from official and unofficial sources are so at odds that they often seem to describe different events, according to The New York Times.
The top U.S. counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, says the CIA strikes have killed more than 600 militants since May 2010 with no confirmed civilian casualties. But some experts -- including those who support the program -- told the NYT that's highly unlikely, since the militants operate not from military bases but from areas with families and neighbors around.
Determinining the precision of the drone strikes is important, NYT said, because the U.S. is expanding the drone program into Somalia and Yemen, and other nations are expected to follow suit.
Read more about the dispute over drones' civilian casualties in the New York Times
http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/cia-claim-of-no-civilian-deaths-from-drone-strikes-is-disputed-1.151897