Rob Crilly: As many as 168 Children Killed in Pakistan Drone Strikes

As many as 168 children have been killed in drone strikes in Pakistan during the past seven years, as the CIA has intensified its secret program against militants along the Afghan border. In a new analysis of open-source documents, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found that 2,292 people had been killed by US missiles, including as many as 775 civilians. The strikes, which began under President George W Bush, but have since accelerated during the presidency of Barack Obama (FYI, he is the president who picked up the Nobel Peace Prize, and was apparently not ashamed to accelerate the wars under his immediate control). Because of him, families in Afghanistan now live in fear whenever they need to venture outside their homes: If one of our drones is anywhere near the horizon, they have to cower in their huts, like a wounded deer seeking refuge in a dense forest. In just a single attack on a madrassah in 2006, up to 69 children lost their lives. Chris Woods, who led the research, said the detailed database of deaths would send shock- waves through Pakistan, where political and military leaders repeatedly denounce the strikes in public, while privately allowing the US to continue. "This is a military campaign run by a secret service, which raised problems of accountability, transparency, and you have a situation where neither the Pakistanis nor Americans are clear about any agreements in place, and where the reporting is difficult." "All of this means that when things go wrong, there is simply no redress for the families of those who have been 'mistakenly' killed". The research, culled from more than 2,000 news reports, leaked documents and witness statements, show how the drones gradually moved from a rarely used tool, beginning with a single strike in 2004, to a front-line weapon of war.