How the Gov’t Talks About a Drone Program it Won’t Acknowledge Exists
Drones have become the go-to weapon of the U.S.s counter-terrorism strategy, with strikes in Yemen in particular increasing steadily. U.S. drones reportedly killed twenty-nine people in Yemen recently, including perhaps ten civilians.
Administration officials regularly celebrate the drone wars apparent successes often avoiding details or staying anonymous, but claiming tacit credit for the U.S.
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But when it comes to details of that process, the administration clams up.
The government refuses to formally acknowledge that the CIA even has a drone program, let alone discuss its thornier elements, like how many civilians have been killed, or how the CIA chooses targets.
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Semantics aside, details on the most controversial aspects of the program have been revealed through a patchwork of these unofficial comments. For example, in May the New York Times reported that the CIA counts any military-aged male killed in a drone strike as a militant, even if his identity isnt known. Many outlets had previously reported that the CIA conducted signature strikes in Pakistan, and now in Yemen, which target men believed to be militants whose identities arent known. But neither the Times story nor subsequent reporting by ProPublica garnered much detail on how the CIA actually assesses casualties after a strike. As usual, neither the White House nor the CIA would comment on the record.
A great deal of internal links in full article: http://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-govt-talks-about-a-drone-program-it-wont-acknowledge
Related: Stacking Up the Adminstration's Drone Claims http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/cia-drones-strikes