Really, you cant believe a thing they say: there has, for the last year, been a spirited struggle and debate in Washington, spearheaded by the Obama administration, about whether the CIAs covert drone assassination wars should be turned over to the Pentagon. Now, we discover that its the U.S. Air Force all along thats actually been piloting the CIA drone strikes in Pakistan, as well, evidently, as Yemen and Somalia; that in essence, it was always a melded operation. The Guardian, still proving itself one of the great papers of our moment, has broken this story. Tom A regular US air force unit based in the Nevada desert is responsible for flying the CIAs drone strike programme in Pakistan, according to a new documentary to be released on Tuesday. The film – which has been three years in the making – identifies the unit conducting CIA strikes in Pakistans tribal areas as the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron, which operates from a secure compound in a corner of Creech air force base, 45 miles from Las Vegas in the Mojave desert. Several former drone operators have claimed that the units conventional air force personnel – rather than civilian contractors – have been flying the CIAs heavily armed Predator missions in Pakistan, a 10-year campaign which according to some estimates has killed more than 2,400 people. Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions National Security Project, said this posed questions of legality and oversight. A lethal force apparatus in which the CIA and regular military collaborate as they are reportedly doing risks upending the checks and balances that restrict where and when lethal force is used, and thwart democratic accountability, which cannot take place in secrecy. theguardian/world/2014/apr/14/cia-drones-pakistan-us-air-force-documentary
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 15:17:53 +0000
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