A NEW ANONYMOUS WHISTLEBLOWER HAS ELABORATED ON THE U.S.
DRONE THREAT ABROAD.
SOME OF THE QUESTIONABLE ACTIVITY THAT IS TAKING
PLACE, IS UNDER OBAMA'S WATCH.
IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN KNOWN THAT THEY WERE CARELESS, WHEN
DRONES CAUSE CIVILIAN DEATHS IN COUNTRIES LIKE
YEMEN OR AFGHANISTAN.
BUT IT TURNS OUT THE SITUATION IS MUCH WORSE THAN WE EXPECTED.
JEREMY SCAHILL AND A TEAM OF REPORTERS AT THE INTERCEPT
HAVE SPOKEN TO THIS ANONYMOUS SOURCE, WHO IS A
WHISTLEBLOWER WHO CHOOSES TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS, AND THEY
HAVE DONE AN EXCELLENT NUMBER OF REPORTS ON WHAT
HAS HAPPENED WITH THE DRONE PROGRAM.
TAKEN TOGETHER, THE SECRET DOCUMENTS LEAD TO THE CONCLUSION
THAT WASHINGTON'S 14 YEAR HIGH-VALUE TARGETING
CAMPAIGN SUFFERS FROM AN OVERRELIANCE ON SIGNALS
INTELLIGENCE, AND APPARENTLY INCALCULABLE CIVILIAN TOLL,
AND DUE TO A PREFERENCE FOR ASSASSINATION RATHER THAN
CAPTURE, AN INABILITY TO EXTRACT POTENTIALLY VALUABLE
INTELLIGENCE FROM TERROR SUSPECTS.
YOU WILL NOTICE A THEME THROUGHOUT EVERYTHING WE SAY.
THE SAME HAS TO DO WITH KILLING PEOPLE AS OPPOSED TO
CAPTURING THEM, BASICALLY PUTTING THEM THROUGH TRIAL
AND HAVING TO EXTRACT INTELLIGENCE FROM THEM.
I KNOW WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT WILL CRY.
THEY SAY IT IS SO EASY FOR YOU TO SAY, BUT IT'S HARD TO
CAPTURE THESE GUYS.
I KNOW.
WE ARE NOT AGAINST GETTING THE BAD GUYS, WE JUST WANT TO
GET THEM IN A WAY THAT DOESN'T CREATE MORE BAD GUYS AND
HENCE MORE DEATHS AND DANGER FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS.
YOU'LL SEE EXACTLY HOW MANY CIVILIANS WERE KILLED, OR PEOPLE
THAT WE KILLED THAT WE DECIDE TO CATEGORIZE AS NOT CITIZENS.
I WANTED TO EXPLAIN ONE QUICK THING BEFORE WE GIVE YOU
MORE DATA.
SEEING THIS INTELLIGENCE, IT'S A CELL PHONE, IT'S A COMPUTER
IP ADDRESS, IT'S THAT KIND OF INFORMATION THAT THEY ARE
COLLECTING ON PEOPLE.
IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE BOMBING.
THEY ARE BOMBING, IN ESSENCE, THE CELL PHONE OR COMPUTER
OR SIGNAL OF INTELLIGENCE THEY HAVE GATHERED THEY THINK
MIGHT BE ATTACHED TO A TERRORIST.
YOU WILL HEAR ABOUT PEOPLE KILLED AROUND THAT PERSON.
BUT UNDERSTAND THAT EVEN WHEN THEY GET WHAT THEY THINK IS
THEIR INTENDED TARGET, THEY OFTENTIMES DO NOT HAVE A
HUMAN BEING ATTACHED TO THAT.
THEY JUST HAVE METADATA ATTACHED TO THAT TARGET.
THE SOURCE FROM THE GOVERNMENT SAYS SOMETIMES IT IS THEIR MOM.
YES.
WHEN THEY TELL US HERE IN AMERICA, WE ARE JUST
COLLECTING METADATA ON AMERICANS, IT'S OKAY.
WE'RE TOLD THAT METADATA IS TOTALLY HARMLESS.
DON'T GET ME WRONG, THEY ARE NOT PULLING ANYBODY IN THE U.S.
ON METADATA.
BUT WE DO USE IT IN OTHER COUNTRIES THAT WE ARE NOT
EVEN IN WAR WITH TO KILL PEOPLE.
THAT IS WHAT WE DO WITH METADATA, WE JUST DON'T DO
THAT HERE IN THE U.S..
LATER WE WILL SHOW YOU THE DISPARITY BETWEEN THE
NUMBER OF INTENDED TARGETS THAT WE KILL AND THE NUMBER OF
INNOCENT CIVILIANS THAT WE KILLED.
THAT DISPARITY IS MASSIVE.
ACCORDING TO THE UNNAMED SOURCE, "THIS OUTRAGEOUS
EXPLOSION OF WATCH LISTING ñ
AS MONITORING PEOPLE AND RACKING AND STACKING THEM UNLESS,
ASSIGNING THEM NUMBERS, ASSIGNING THEM BASEBALL CARDS,
ASSIGNING THEM DEATH SENTENCES WITHOUT NOTICE, ON A WORLDWIDE
BATTLEFIELD ñ IT WAS, FROM THE VERY FIRST INSTANCE, WRONG."
HE HAS SEVERE MORAL ISSUES WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING, AND HE
COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO
WHAT THE UNITED STATES IS TRYING TO DO ABROAD.
WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GET RID OF TERRORISM, RIGHT?
BUT IT IS LEADING TO MORE HOSTILITY BECAUSE WE ARE KILLING
SO MANY INNOCENT CIVILIANS BASED ON VERY FAULTY METADATA.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT WING WILL SAY HE IS BIASED
BECAUSE HE HAS MORALS.
I THOUGHT REPUBLICANS WERE THE PARTY OF MORALS.
BY THE WAY, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT HE THINKS, IT'S WHAT
HE TURNED OVER AS DOCUMENTS.
HE DIDN'T WRITE THEM, THEY ARE FROM THE GOVERNMENT.
THAT IS WHY PEOPLE ARE OUTRAGED.
THAT IS WHAT THIS GUY IS.
THE FACT THAT HE HAS MORALITY IS NOT THE DOWNSIDE OF IT, IT
IS THE UPSIDE OF IT.
I
LOVE THAT HE DID THAT.
ARE YOU SURE WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS WHEN WE SAY YOU SHOULD
IGNORE MORALITY?
LET'S GET INTO THE NUMBERS.
HE SAYS, "WE ARE ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN.
AND WHEN I SAY WE, I MEAN EVERY AMERICAN CITIZEN WHO HAS
ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION NOW BUT CONTINUES TO DO NOTHING
ABOUT IT."
WE HAVE TWO SETS OF SLIDES FOCUS ON THE MILITARY'S HIGH-VALUE
TARGETING
CAMPAIGN IN SOMALIA AND YEMEN AS IT EXISTED IN 2011 AND 2013,
SPECIFICALLY THE OPERATIONS OF A SECRETIVE UNIT, TASK FORCE
48 ñ 4.
"ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS ON HIGH-VALUE KILL CAPTURE
OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN TEACH US PREVIOUS ACCOUNTS
OF HOW THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION MASKS THE TRUE NUMBER OF
CIVILIANS KILLED IN DRONE STRIKES BY CATEGORIZING
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE KILLED IN A STRIKE AS ENEMIES, EVEN IF
THEY WERE NOT THE INTENDED TARGETS."
THE WHISTLEBLOWER PROVIDED A STUDY THAT WAS DONE BY THE
INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE TASK FORCE.
THAT IS REFERRED TO AS THE ISR.
THE ISR STUDY ALSO REVEALS NEW DETAILS ABOUT THE CASE OF A
BRITISH CITIZEN, WHO WAS STRIPPED OF HIS CITIZENSHIP
BEFORE BEING KILLED IN A U.S. DRONE STRIKE IN 2012.
BRITISH AND AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE HAD HIM UNDER
SURVEILLANCE FOR SEVERAL YEARS AS HE TRAVELED BACK AND
FORTH BETWEEN THE U.K.
AND EAST AFRICA, BUT DID NOT CAPTURE HIM.
INSTEAD, THE U.S. HUNTED HIM DOWN AND KILLED HIM IN SOMALIA.
REALLY QUICK, HE IS A BRITISH CITIZEN.
SO IN WORKING TOGETHER, THE BRITISH AND AMERICANS SAID
LET'S STRIP HIM OF HIS BRITISH CITIZENSHIP, LET HIM GO TO
EAST AFRICA, AND THEN YOU GUYS MURDER HIM.
BY THE WAY THE U.S.
HAS ALSO DONE THAT WITH AN AMERICAN CITIZEN YEARS AGO.
THEY ALSO KILLED HIS 16-YEAR-OLD SON.
BUT THEY DIDN'T BOTHER TO STRIP HIM OF HIS U.S.
CITIZENSHIP.
KILLING HIS SON THEY CLAIMED WAS AN ACCIDENT.
HOW DARE WE TALK ABOUT MORALITY.
THE REPUBLICANS COMPLAIN ABOUT ALL THESE CONSPIRACIES LIKE
JADE HELM 15.
HERE WE HAVE TASK FORCE 48 ñ 4.
IT IS REAL.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS?
IT IS A DEATH PANEL, LITERALLY.
OBAMA CARE IS ACTUALLY A GOOD THING THAT HE DID.
IN THIS CASE, HE TAKES LIVES AWAY AND NOT A SINGLE
REPUBLICAN COMPLAINS ABOUT IT.
WHEN OBAMA DOES IT, WHO THEY DESPISE, NOT A PEEP.
WHEN THEY EXECUTE INNOCENT PEOPLE, THEY LOVE IT.
BUT IT'S DEMOCRATS AS WELL.
REPUBLICAN JUST WANT MORE IF ANYTHING.
THEY ARE CONSTANTLY CRITICIZING OBAMA FOR BEING WEAK ON
NATIONAL SECURITY.
HE TOOK BUSH'S POLICY AND EXPANDED ON IT.
HIS DRONE PROGRAM IS WORSE THAN BUSH'S.
WHENEVER IT COMES TO FOREIGN POLICY, I THINK OF SENATORS
LIKE DIANE FEINSTEIN WHO GO ON TV AND TALK ABOUT HOW WE
REALLY NEED TO AMP UP OUR NATIONAL SECURITY AND OUR
EFFORTS ABROAD BECAUSE THE TERRORISTS HAVE BOMBS,
REALLY BIG BOMBS.
I AM QUOTING HER VERBATIM.
SPYING ON AMERICAN
CITIZENS, NO PROBLEM.
KILLING PEOPLE ABROAD WITHOUT TRIAL OR PROOF IN ANY
COURT, TOTALLY FINE.
STRIP THEM OF THEIR RIGHTS AND MURDER THEM.
NO PROBLEM AT ALL.
THAT IS AN OUTRAGE IF YOU ARE DIANE FEINSTEIN.
IF YOU SAY, SOME OF THESE GUYS ARE PROBABLY BAD GUYS.
YEAH, THEY PROBABLY ARE.
I HOPE THEY
ARE NOT PICKING RANDOM PEOPLE.
IT'S INCUMBENT UPON US IF WE ARE GOING TO PROCLAIM TO BE THE
GOOD GUYS TO TAKE A LOT OF CARE ON WHO WE EXECUTE UNILATERALLY.
IT IS AN ASSASSINATION PROGRAM.
DON'T CHENEY IT.
IT IS AN ASSASSINATION PROGRAM.
WE HAVE A LIST OF PEOPLE WE ARE GOING TO KILL, WE DO IT,
EXCEPT A LOT OF TIMES IT IS NOT THEM, AND WE KILL A LOT
OF PEOPLE AROUND THEM WHO ARE COMPLETELY INNOCENT.
GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION.
OFTENTIMES, AFGHANISTAN, THEY ADMIT THAT THEY ARE NOT
JUST GOING AFTER THE TALIBAN OR AL QAEDA, THEY ARE GOING
AFTER PEOPLE THAT THE AFGHAN GOVERNMENT DOESN'T LIKE.
IT WAS ONLY TWO WEEKS AGO THAT A U.S.
AIRSTRIKE KILLED 22 PEOPLE AT A HOSPITAL.
THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH TERRORISM.
THEY WERE HOSPITAL STAFF AND SOME OF THEIR
PATIENTS.
WHAT HAPPENED WITH THAT INVESTIGATION?
EVEN IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE DEATH PANEL THAT IS
HAPPENING ABROAD, CONSIDER THE FACT THAT THIS IS WHAT
EXACTLY WHAT LEADS TO TERRORIST ACTIVITY.
WHEN YOU ARE KILLING INNOCENT CIVILIANS, YOU ARE
CONVINCING INNOCENT PEOPLE TO MAYBE TURN INNOCENT PEOPLE
INTO TERRORISTIC EFFORTS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES.
I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE WERE GOING TO AFGHANISTAN TO LIBERATE THEM.
NOW WE ARE BOMBING PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT AL QAEDA OR TALIBAN
AND WE ARE STUCK IN THIS ENDLESS CYCLE OF VIOLENCE.
IT NEVER ENDS.
WHO IS THEM?
WHO ARE WE LIBERATING?
ARE WE LIBERATING THEM FROM THEIR OWN LIVES?
WHAT WE WANT IS A STEADY STREAM OF WATER SO THE
MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX KEEPS CHURNING.
LET ME GIVE YOU SPECIFICS.
DOCUMENTS DETAILING A SPECIAL OPERATIONS CAMPAIGN IN
NORTHEASTERN AFGHANISTAN SHOW THAT BETWEEN JANUARY 2012
AND FEBRUARY 2013, U.S.
SPECIAL OPERATIONS AIRSTRIKES KILLED MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE.
OF THOSE ONLY 35 WERE THE INTENDED TARGETS.
DURING ONE FIVE-MONTH PERIOD OF THE OPERATION, NEARLY 90
PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE KILLED IN AIRSTRIKES WERE NOT
INTENDED TARGETS.
ACCORDING TO JEREMY, "THE MILITARY DESIGNATED PEOPLE
THEY KILLED IN TARGETED STRIKES AS EKIA ñ
ENEMY KILLED IN ACTION.
EVEN IF THEY WERE NOT THE INTENDED TARGETS OF THE STRIKE."
HE GOES ON TO EXPLAIN THAT UNLESS EVIDENCE EMERGES TO
PROVE THE PEOPLE KILLED WERE NOT
TERRORISTS, EKIA REMAINS.
ONCE AGAIN, YOU HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY SAYING
IT WAS COLLATERAL DAMAGE, SO WE KILLED 165 INNOCENT CIVILIANS.
WE WERE BUSY LIBERATING THEM, THAT IS WHY WE HAD TO KILL
THEM ALL.
THE U.S.
SAYS IF WE KILLED THEM BY DEFINITION THEY WERE AN
ENEMY COMBATANT, UNLESS YOU CAN PROVE AFTER THEY DIED THAT
THEY WERE INNOCENT.
THAT IS LITERALLY ONE OF THE MOST ORWELLIAN THINGS I
HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE.
HOW IS A DEAD PERSON GOING TO PROVE THAT THEY WERE
INNOCENT IN THE UNITED STATES?
IS THEIR FAMILY GOING TO DO IT?
HOW IN THE WORLD WOULD THEY PROVE AFTER THEY ARE ALREADY
DEAD THAT THEY WERE INNOCENT?
THESE PAPERS, BY THE WAY, ARE ONLY ABOUT OPERATIONS BETWEEN
2011 AND 2013, IT IS MUCH BROADER THAN THAT.
IT GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.
WE'RE JUST TELLING YOU WHAT IS PROVABLE BASED ON
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS WE NOW HAVE.
IT IS SICK.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO ADD.
IT IS PATHETIC WHAT WE ARE DOING IN AFGHANISTAN.
IT IS EVEN MORE PATHETIC THAT WE ARE DOING THIS IN COUNTRIES
WE HAVE NOT DECLARED WAR ON.
SOMALIA?
YEMEN?
WHY ARE WE DOING DRONE STRIKES THERE?
THEY HAVE QC NAMES FOR THESE THINGS.
BY THE WAY, THE BASEBALL CARDS ARE LITERALLY LIKE
BASEBALL CARDS.
THEY HAVE A CONDENSED PROFILE OF A PERSON THEY ARE TARGETING.
THEY JUST GO THROUGH THE CARDS, THEY HAVE KILL LISTS BASED
ON FAULTY DATA.
IT COULD BE THE MOTHER OF A SUSPECTED TERRORISTS, AND
THEN THAT PERSON DIES IN A DRONE STRIKE.
THEN ON TOP OF THAT THEY HAVE SOMETHING CALLED FIND, FIX,
FINISHED.
HERE IS WHAT IT MEANS, YOU FIND A TARGET, FIX THE COORDINATES
ON HIM, AND THEN YOU FINISH HIM.
THEY WERE WORRIED THAT SINCE WE ARE NOT IN AN ACTIVE WAR
ZONE, THEY WON'T HAVE TO FLY THE PLANES FROM A LONGER DISTANCE.
IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN WE HAVE PLENTY OF PLANES AROUND.
FOR SOMALIA AND YEMEN, ONE HAS TO FLY 450 KILOMETERS.
THEY CALL THAT TYRANNY OF DISTANCE.
BECAUSE IT TERRORIZES THEM TO BE UP IN THE AIR FOR SO LONG
BEFORE THEY KILL YOU.
THE WHISTLEBLOWER HAD ONE MORE THING TO SAY TONIGHT.
HE SAID THERE IS COUNTLESS INSTANCES WHERE HE HAS COME
ACROSS INTELLIGENCE THAT WAS FAULTY.
HE SAYS SOMETIMES YOU WILL BE WORKING ON A CASE ñ
HE SAID, "IT IS STUNNING THE NUMBER OF
INSTANCES WHEN SELECTORS ARE MISATTRIBUTED TO CERTAIN PEOPLE.
AND IT ISN'T UNTIL SEVERAL YEARS LATER THAT YOU REALIZE THAT
THE ENTIRE TIME YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING AFTER THIS
REALLY HOT TARGET, YOU WIND UP REALIZING THAT IT WAS HIS
MOTHER'S PHONE THE WHOLE TIME."
OOPS.
DO THOSE LIVES MATTER?
I MEAN, THEY ARE AFGHANS AND SOMALIS?
DO THEY COUNT?
AREN'T THEY ALL JUST COLLATERAL DAMAGE WAITING TO HAPPEN?