NYT Series on Drones

To its credit, the NYT has published a two part series of the consequences of the two decade long practice of "precision" strikes against terrorists with drones. The two parts are attached. They are summarized, but only partially, by a commentary at Defense One at https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2021/12/problem-drones-everyone-saw-coming/360025/. I encourage you to read the complete NYT reports. The work is done by a remarkably courageous independent researcher and professor at the Columbia School of Journalism, Azmat Khan. She plowed through thousands of pages of redacted FOIA-ed DOD reports, and -- most importantly -- visited the sites of a mind numbing number of these killings, conducting interview after interview. Her report, and the too short Defense One summary, make clear what a catastrophe this policy has been: not only because of the killing of uncounted thousands of innocent civilians but also because it is a policy that is worse than a failure against terrorism. It has spread terrorism deeper and wider wherever the drone killing policy occurs. The reporting also reveals a culture in the Pentagon, and assuredly in the CIA, that seeks only to reassure itself what they are doing is just fine, rather than attempting to understand it. It also reveals a civilian political attitude outside DOD: perpetuating these killings is smart politics; it shows you are tough against terrorism, support the troops and their idolized command, and that you are no one's fool in opposing radical muslim fundamentalism. Not exactly, it turns out all those shoes are all on the other foot. The roots of this catastrophe go back to the 1930s, when a culture of counter-factual "precision" bombing took over in the US Army Air Corps, resulting in the flattening of German and Japanese cities with conventional daylight bombing in pursuit of various panacea target categories in World War II. And, by the way, an increase in German war production up to almost the end of the war. This history and significantly earlier reporting and insights into the current drone catastrophe were revealed in Andrew Cockburn's 2015 book, "Kill Chain: The Rise of Drones and High Tech Assassins." It is well worth a read today. Find it at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Chain-Drones-High-Tech-Assassins/dp/1784782696. Send a copy to your Congressperson; most of them need to read it if they want to understand the momentum behind what the New York Times has revealed. Winslow Wheeler