Abstract
This chapter explores the impact of U.S. drone strikes on civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The first section of the chapter examines three too-broad target selection criteria that led to drone strikes targeting civilians (e.g., adult males standing in proximity of known combatants, first responders who rushed to the site of a drone strike, individuals regularly communicating with known combatants). The second section examines two technical factors behind imprecise strikes (e.g., low quality of video footage), while the third section shows how malicious human behavior undermined the precision of the strikes (e.g., informers providing faulty intelligence). The last, fourth section of the chapter shows how the too-broad criteria for determining targets necessarily led to indiscriminate attacks against civilians.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
References
Abbot, Sebastian. 2012. “New Light on Drone War’s Death Toll.” Associated Press, February 26. http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-light-drone-wars-death-toll-150321926.html. Accessed on 28 February 2017.
Ali, Yousaf. 2006. “Most Bajaur Victims Were Under 20.” The News, November 5. https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/646502-most-bajaur-victims-were-under-20. Accessed on 12 February 2017.
Alston, Philip. 2010. Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions: Study on Targeted Killings. Geneva: UN Human Rights Council. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/docs/14session/A.HRC.14.24.Add6.pdf. Accessed on 12 March 2016.
Badalič, Vasja. 2015. “Kdo je terorist?” [Who Is a Terrorist?]. Problemi 5–6: 193–224.
———. 2016. “The Predators’ Rule of Terror.” In Drones and Unmanned Aerial Systems: Legal and Social Implications for Security and Surveillance, edited by Aleš Završnik, 157–181. Cham: Springer.
Becker, Jo, and Scott Shane. 2012. “Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will.” The New York Times, May 29, A1.
Boyle, Michael J. 2013. “The Costs and Consequences of Drone Warfare.” International Affairs 89 (1): 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12002.
Chamayou, Grégoire. 2015. Drone Theory. London: Penguin Random House.
Clark, Kate. 2011. The Takhar Attack: Targeted Killings and the Parallel Worlds of US Intelligence in Afghanistan. Kabul: Afghanistan Analyst Network. http://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2012/10/20110511KClark_Takhar-attack_final.pdf. Accessed on 20 April 2017.
Cloud, David S. 2011. “Anatomy of an Afghan War Tragedy.” Los Angeles Times, April 10. http://articles.latimes.com/print/2011/apr/10/world/la-fg-afghanistan-drone-20110410. Accessed on 16 April 2017.
Dryer, Alexandre. 2006. “How the NSA Does ‘Social Network Analysis’.” Slate, May 15. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2006/05/how_the_nsa_does_social_network_analysis.html. Accessed on 12 February 2017.
Farooq, Umar, and Syed Fakhar Kakakhel. 2014. “Obama’s Deadly Informants: The Drone Spotters of Pakistan.” The Daily Beast, November 14. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/12/obama-s-deadly-informants-the-drone-spotters-of-pakistan.html. Accessed on 20 April 2017.
Filkins, Dexter. 2011. “The Journalist and the Spies.” The New Yorker, September 19. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/09/19/the-journalist-and-the-spies. Accessed on 28 April 2017.
Gall, Carlotta, and Ismail Khan. 2006. “American Strike in January Missed Al Qaeda’s No. 2 by a Few Hours.” The New York Times, November 10. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/world/asia/10pakistan.html?pagewanted=all. Accessed on 25 April 2017.
Gusterson, Hugh. 2016. Drone: Remote Control Warfare. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Heller, Kevin Jon. 2013. “‘One Hell of a Killing Machine’: Signature Strikes in International Law.” Journal of International Criminal Justice 11 (1): 89–119. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqs093.
Henckaerts, Jean-Marie, and Louise Doswald-Beck. 2005a. Customary International Humanitarian Law. Volume 1: Rules. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 2005b. Customary International Humanitarian Law. Volume 2: Practice—Part I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
HRC (Human Rights Clinic) and Civic (Center for Civilians in Conflict). 2012. The Civilian Impact of Drones: Unexamined Costs, Unanswered Questions. New York: Colombia Law School and Civic. http://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/human-rights-institute/files/The%20Civilian%20Impact%20of%20Drones.pdf. Accessed on 20 April 2017.
ICRC (International Committee of Red Cross). 2010. Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949. Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cross. https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/icrc_002_0321.pdf. Accessed on 14 April 2017.
IHRCRC (International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic), and GJC (Global Justice Clinic). 2012. Living Under Drones: Death, Injury, and Trauma to Civilians from US Drone Practices in Pakistan. New York: Stanford Law School, NYU School of Law. http://chrgj.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Living-Under-Drones.pdf. Accessed on 8 May 2017.
Kazim, Hasnain. 2013. “Drone Attacks are the Right Thing to Do.” Spiegel Online, December 14. http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/interview-pakistani-cia-informant-on-drone-warfare-and-taliban-a-937045.html. Accessed on 30 April 2017.
Lewis, Larry. 2014. Improving Lethal Action: Learning and Adapting in US Counterterrorism Operations. CNA Analysis & Solutions. https://www.cna.org/CNA_files/PDF/COP-2014-U-008746-Final.pdf. Accessed on 5 April 2017.
Linebaugh, Heather. 2013. “I Worked on the US Drone Program. The Public Should Know What Really Goes on.” The Guardian, December 29. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/29/drones-us-military Accessed on 11 April 2016.
Mayer, Jane. 2009. “The Predator War: What Are the Risks of the CIA’s Covert Drone Program?” The New Yorker, October 26. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_mayer. Accessed on 6 June 2016.
McKelvey, Tara. 2012. A Former Ambassador to Pakistan Speaks Out. The Daily Beast, November 20. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/20/a-former-ambassador-to-pakistan-speaks-out.html. Accessed on 5 April 2017.
Melzer, Nils. 2009a. Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities Under International Humanitarian Law. Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cross.
———. 2009b. Targeted Killing and International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Plaw, Avery, Matthew S. Fricker, and Carlos R. Colon. 2016. The Drone Debate: A Primer on the U.S. Use of Unmanned Aircraft Outside Conventional Battlefields. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Porter, Gareth. 2011. “How McChrystal and Petraeus Built an Indiscriminate ‘Killing Machine’.” Truthout, September 11. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/3588:how-mcchrystal-and-petraeus-built-an-indiscriminate-killing-machine. Accessed on 4 April 2016.
Radio Transmissions and Intercom. 2010. http://www.scribd.com/doc/52825019/Transcripts-of-Drone-Attack. Accessed on 4 April 2017.
Scahill, Jeremy. 2013. Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield. New York: Nation Books.
———. 2016. The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government’s Secret Drone Warfare Program. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Shah, Naureen. 2013. Civilian Harm from Drone Strikes Assessing Limitations & Responding to Harm. New York: Colombia Law School. https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov/uploads/Naureen%20Shah%20DronesHearingWrittenTestimony1.pdf. Accessed on 11 April 2016.
Shaw, Ian, and Majed Akhter. 2014. “The Dronification of State Violence.” Critical Asian Studies 46 (2): 211–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2014.898452.
Smith, Josh. 2016. “Afghan Drone War: Data Show Unmanned Flights Dominate Air Campaign.” Reuters, April 20. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-drones-exclusive-idUSKCN0XH2UZ. Accessed on 11 April 2016.
Stanikzai, Zainullah. 2016. “17 Security Personnel Among 32 Killed in Helmand Raids.” Pajhwok, August 27. http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2016/08/27/17-security-personnel-among-32-killed-helmand-raids. Accessed on 26 April 2017.
Strawser, Bradley Jay. 2010. “Moral Predators: The Duty to Employ Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles.” Journal of Military Ethics 9 (4): 342–368.
TBIJ (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism). 2011a. “The Bush Years: Pakistan Strikes 2004–2009.” London: TBIJ. https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/10/the-bush-years-2004-2009/. Accessed on 16 February 2017.
———. 2011b. “Pakistan: Reported US Strikes in 2010.” London: TBIJ. https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/drone-war/data/obama-2010-pakistan-strikes. Accessed on 12 February 2017.
———. 2016. “Afghanistan: Reported US Air and Drone Strikes 2016.” London: TBIJ. https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/drone-war/data/get-the-data-a-list-of-us-air-and-drone-strikes-afghanistan-2016. Accessed on 12 February 2017.
———. 2018. “CIA and US Military Drone Strikes in Pakistan, 2004 to Present.” London: TBIJ. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NAfjFonM-Tn7fziqiv33HlGt09wgLZDSCP-BQaux51w/edit#gid=694046452. Accessed on 24 March 2019.
Wall, Tyler, and Torin Monahan. 2011. “Surveillance and Violence from Afar: The Politics of Drones and Liminal Security-scapes.” Theoretical Criminology 15 (3): 239–254.
Wheeler, Winslow. 2012. “Finding the Right Targets.” Time, February 29. http://nation.time.com/2012/02/29/3-finding-the-right-targets/. Accessed on 16 April 2017.
Williams, Brian Glyn. 2013. “New Light on CIA ‘Double Tap’ Drone Strike on Taliban ‘First Responders’ in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas.” Perspectives on Terrorism 7 (3). http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/269/html. Accessed on 5 May 2017.
Woods, Chris, and Christina Lamb. 2012. “CIA Tactics in Pakistan Include Targeting Rescuers and Funerals.” The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, February 4. http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/02/04/obama-terror-drones-cia-tactics-in-pakistan-include-targeting-rescuers-and-funerals/ Accessed on 6 June 2016.
Woods, Chris, and Mushtaq Yusufzai. 2013. “Bureau Investigation Finds Fresh Evidence of CIA Drone Strikes on Rescuers.” The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, August 1. http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2013/08/01/bureau-investigation-finds-fresh-evidence-of-cia-drone-strikes-on-rescuers/. Accessed on 6 June 2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Badalič, V. (2019). Inherently Imprecise Killings: Civilian Victims in U.S. Drone Strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In: The War Against Civilians. Palgrave Studies in Victims and Victimology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12406-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12406-9_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12405-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12406-9
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)