U.S. Drones Attack Terrorists Based on “Behaviour Patterns”, Not Hard Intelligence

Drone attacks against suspected militants in Afghanistan, Sudan and Yemen are often based on what is called “Signature strikes”-strikes that target individuals based on patterns of behavior identified by US intelligence. Without an understanding of the local context, power dynamics, and cultural practices, drone operators may interpret routine behavior as suspicious, and mistakenly target civilians, according to an empirical study on the use of attack drones by the C.I.A. authored by the Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Clinic and Center for Civilians in Conflict. The report finds that drone operations are setting the US on an untested and unexamined course. The CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) have taken a lead role in these campaigns that, due to government secrecy, the public knows little about. Neither organisation has ever described the rules nor mechanisms it employs to protect civilians, track deaths or investigate reports of civilian harm. Additionally, neither the CIA nor JSOC have ever conducted strikes on this scale nor with this degree of collusion; even high-level policymakers do not always know which organization is responsible for a strike, or which to hold accountable for civilian harm. Civilians have no one to turn to if their loved ones are harmed or if their homes are destroyed. According to official NATO information, In Pakistan alone during 2012 , there were 36 drone attacks and 448 militant casualties. Civilian casualties were not specified. In 2011, 72 attacks were made and 871 militant casualties and 12 civilian casualties occurred. However, media reports in Pakistan and Afghanistan report several civilian casualties after every drone attack. While human rights groups and the countries under attack may cry hoarse over the drone attacks with nobody to listen for the victims barring feeble protests by their governments, the U.S. military is investing an estimated $14 billion in drone procurement and research. The unprecedented “success” of the drones in minimising U.S. casualties while supposedly targeting individual terrorists has led other countries to commit procurement funds for attack and surveillance drones.