Revenge of the Drones

By Cora Harmon

Children are dying at the hands of the United States military. According to the Pakistani Report, from 2006 until 2009, unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, have been reported to have killed as many as 100 children. These drones have been proven very useful to the U.S. Military. The drones are able to give long term surveillance and are able to locate specific targets. In this report, the children allegedly died in a single air strike on a religious school. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism said some information from the Pakistani Report came from paid and local Pakistani officials and may not be verified. U.S. officials argued that Pakistani information is unsubstantiated and they lack credible sources of information.

A U.S. government official said, “The notion that the United States has undertaken operations in Pakistan that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent Pakistanis is ludicrous.”

However, in the early 2000s the U.S. government admitted to accidentally killing civilians using the drones. They reported that about 50 civilians were killed while the BIJ reported almost 400 civilians being killed, of that 168 were children. U.S. officials are questioning those reports and trying to figure out who is giving out this information. Two years ago, the U.S. reported that American drones had killed over 2,000 terrorists.

White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, defends the drone program saying that these attacks are meant to prevent terrorist attacks and to save the lives of the American people. Carney also says that the use of these drones is ethical and legal; the U.S. needs protection and drones are the appropriate corrective measure.