Far more civilians have been killed by U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas than U.S. counterterrorism officials have acknowledged, a new study by human rights researchers at Stanford University and New York University contends.
Far more civilians have been killed by U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas than U.S. counterterrorism officials have acknowledged, a new study by human rights researchers at Stanford University and New York University contends.
The report, “Living Under Drones,” also concludes that the classified CIA program has not made America any safer and instead has turned the Pakistani public against U.S. policy in the volatile region. It recommends that the Obama administration re-evaluate the program to make it more transparent and accountable, and to prove compliance with international law.
“Real people are suffering real harm” but are largely ignored in government or news media discussions of drone attacks, said James Cavallaro of Stanford, one of the study’s authors.
Cavallaro said the study was intended to challenge official accounts of the drones as precise instruments of high-tech warfare with few adverse consequences. The Obama administration has championed the use of remotely operated drones for killing senior Taliban and al-Qaida leaders, but the study concludes that only about 2 percent of drone casualties are top militant leaders.
The CIA and Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council, declined to comment.
The report says 130 people were interviewed by researchers in Pakistan over a nine-month period, including 69 survivors or family members of victims. The interviews took place in Pakistan outside the dangerous tribal areas. The researchers relied on a Pakistani human rights group, Foundation for Fundamental Rights, to find interview subjects.
Allegations of large numbers of civilian deaths have dogged the drone effort in Pakistan since its inception in 2004 under President George W. Bush. Under President Barack Obama, drone strikes have emerged as the core element of a U.S. strategy aimed at disrupting and eliminating the Taliban and al-Qaida in Pakistan’s tribal areas, where militants have taken refuge to launch attacks in Afghanistan.
The drone strikes have soured relations with Pakistan, which has complained about civilian deaths and infringements on its sovereignty. The Obama administration has said that drone strikes have killed few, if any, civilians.
The study authors did not estimate overall civilian casualties because of limited data, Cavallaro said. But it cites estimates by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which has reported extensively on drone strikes, of 474 to 884 civilian deaths since 2004, including 176 children.
In April, Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, described civilian casualties from drone strikes as “exceedingly rare.” Brennan said the drone program has reduced danger to U.S. pilots, limited civilian casualties and helped prevent deeper U.S. military involvement overseas.
In January, Obama in effect acknowledged the drone program when he said the U.S. must be “judicious in how we use drones.”