Blog of Rights

Jonathan
Manes

Civilian Deaths from CIA Drone Strikes: Zero or Dozens?

By Jonathan Manes, National Security Project at 11:09am

For well over a year now, the ACLU has been urging the government to level with the public about the number of civilians that are being killed in its drone strike/targeted killing operations. The government has been tight-lipped — refusing even to confirm or deny the existence of any records relating to civilian casualties in CIA drone strikes. Last month, however, John Brennan, the White House's top counterterrorism advisor broke this silence, telling reporters that "in the last year 'there hasn't been a single collateral death because of the exceptional proficiency, precision of the capabilities that we've been able to develop.'"

ACLU FOIA Request Seeks Info on President Obama's Use of Drones

By Jonathan Manes, National Security Project at 6:18pm

Today, the ACLU's National Security Project filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking information about the U.S. government's use of armed drones to target and kill individuals in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. As has been widely reported in recent investigative pieces and news articles, the Obama administration has stepped up the use of drones to target individuals not only in Afghanistan, but also in Pakistan and perhaps other countries that are not active theaters of war. The strikes are reportedly being carried out both by military forces and the CIA.

Statistics image