I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on

[PeaceGen]

But here's the thing: I may not have been on the ground in Afghanistan, but I watched parts of the conflict in great detail on a screen for days on end. I know the feeling you experience when you see someone die. Horrifying barely covers it. And when you are exposed to it over and over again it becomes like a small video, embedded in your head, forever on repeat, causing psychological pain and suffering that many people will hopefully never experience. UAV troops are victim to not only the haunting memories of this work that they carry with them, but also the guilt of always being a little unsure of how accurate their confirmations of weapons or identification of hostile individuals were.

Of course, we are trained to not experience these feelings, and we fight it, and become bitter. Some troops seek help in mental health clinics provided by the military, but we are limited on who we can talk to and where, because of the secrecy of our missions. I find it interesting that the suicide statistics in this career field aren't reported, nor are the data on how many troops working in UAV positions are heavily medicated for depression, sleep disorders and anxiety.

This is horrible indeed. I will advocate to the US politicians and intel communities that the US prioritize their military hardware dev programs to serve their own soldiers first, meaning a better sensor package for drones SHOULD be of a much higher priority than that fancy 'ironman suit', and that veterans' benefits should be of a higher priority than most military hardware dev programs. I sometimes have their ear.

 

[Crypto]

The only way to truly safeguard people in Wazirastan is to get them out of their and put them in areas such as Lahore and Karachi.

Once the situation stabilizes they can go back to their homes.


peace

That could be an option if political will is there but unless the Afghan side border is locked we cannot do a cleanup operation.

 

[FaujHistorian]

That could be an option if political will is there but unless the Afghan side border is locked we cannot do a cleanup operation.

We now have enough force to lock our side of the border.

If Afghans work with us, great. If not it is bad for them.

 

[Kompromat]

@FaujHistorian

Islamic emirate of bla bla is just enemy propaganda. Lets do what will give us the 'applicable leverage'.

..

@sandy_3126

I know what you are getting up to.

 

[PeaceGen]

i posted this : http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=1&nav=messages&webtag=ws-republicans&tid=47196

 

[FaujHistorian]

@FaujHistorian

Islamic emirate of bla bla is just enemy propaganda. Lets do what will give us the 'applicable leverage'.

?????

Need a bit more info

Right now it sounds more like Yoda of star wars. Broken, but intelligent. And mixed with a bit of mystery.

 

[PeaceGen]

If we don't support (rather ignore) these 'terror groups', they will turn on us just as TTP has when the US conveniently departs Afghanistan. The US created the insurgency by invading Afghanistan in the first place, why on earth should be pay for it? It is in our interest not to go poking at beehives that you've deployed around our homeland.

The US barges around the planet acting like a macho cowboy expending its toys on local populations, then leaves when it's too messy; leaving the locals and neighbors to cleanup after them. And then in your ignorance and presumption of moral supremacy, expect everyone to support your ***.

So you start by GETTING YOUR TRIGGER HAPPY MILITARY under control and then we'll consider helping you.

With all the respect I can muster, that's a nonsensical remark of you.

It was the fostering of groups like the Taliban by the Pakistani military and political establishments that prompted that US invasion of your territories. Keep your house in order and it won't have to be repeated, prolonged, or intensified.

 

[Not Sure]

So, anyone knows how many dead innocents miss Heather Linebaugh has identified yet?

Or is it just the heart wrenching thought of watching someone (no matter how dreaded a terrorist) die from a missile that got her to write so much with 0 substance?

The article is self-contradictory - On one hand she says the operators don't know who they are killing (as if its some video game and the operators are trying to reach some 'level' - by targeting everything that moves), on the other hand, she implies the killed ones are innocents (miraculously, now she knows!). While she has already claimed she has never set foot in Pakistan/Afghanistan, who is she to judge the intel that comes from that area? Or do the operators have to be told the entire history of the target before they are supposed to follow the lead and take down the target?

What she specifically hides from this article is that intel comes on 'need to know' basis. They are given targets that they are supposed to eliminate - nothing more! Heck, even the Seals from the 05/01/2011 raid did not know till they got to Jalalabad that it was OBL they were to hunt and kill.

So her main problem is that she doesn't want to press the trigger that kills an enemy combatant, well she didn't have to take the job, and even after, she could simply resign and be quiet about it.

Writing such a generic, emotion laden piece that provides absolutely no specific information that is not already available in public media appears nothing more than an attention seeking effort.


To all the Pakistanis - Boots on ground would have proven much worse than the flying drones. And if you want neither of them, then get ready to live under the same Taliban that you found so fit to rule the Afghans.

 

[PeaceGen]

So, anyone knows how many dead innocents miss Heather Linebaugh has identified yet?

Or is it just the heart wrenching thought of watching someone (no matter how dreaded a terrorist) die from a missile that got her to write so much with 0 substance?

The article is self-contradictory - On one hand she says the operators don't know who they are killing (as if its some video game and the operators are trying to reach some 'level' - by targeting everything that moves), on the other hand, she implies the killed ones are innocents (miraculously, now she knows!). While she has already claimed she has never set foot in Pakistan/Afghanistan, who is she to judge the intel that comes from that area? Or do the operators have to be told the entire history of the target before they are supposed to follow the lead and take down the target?

What she specifically hides from this article is that intel comes on 'need to know' basis. They are given targets that they are supposed to eliminate - nothing more! Heck, even the Seals from the 05/01/2011 raid did not know till they got to Jalalabad that it was OBL they were to hunt and kill.

So her main problem is that she doesn't want to press the trigger that kills an enemy combatant, well she didn't have to take the job, and even after, she could simply resign and be quiet about it.

Writing such a generic, emotion laden piece that provides absolutely no specific information that is not already available in public media appears nothing more than an attention seeking effort.


To all the Pakistanis - Boots on ground would have proven much worse than the flying drones. And if you want neither of them, then get ready to live under the same Taliban that you found so fit to rule the Afghans.

All of what you say here reeks of ignorance and grave disrespect for your own service members.

 

[JayAtl]

...

@JayAtl

Your tax dollars will go in vain, we will have the final laugh. Today or 20 years later, this little part if the world is going to dance to our tunes.

CIA is the largest apparatus of global terrorism. We are the victims of the Americam imperialism and William Casy's terrorist brain child.

America paid the price for its creation, in thousands of dead Americans and Billions of dollars spent on wars that cant be won.

We are paying because America's terrorists are located in our geography. If America had not created these monsters in 1979, the world would have been a different place.

Quit this little blame game... "We do what we have to do to serve our business''. Exactly as America does.

In the end this war is going to end on 'our terms'.We have paid the heaviest price, we WILL keep it as a booty.

....

@JayAtl

There is no 'both sides'...!!

You are living in a coocooland. Pakistan is on 'its own side'.

We, have and will keep doing whats 'good for us'. Sometimes our interests with America relate, we help them, when they conflict, we help ourselves.

In this war,Ametica has the hardware and we have the 'source codes'.

We offer a deal, if they refuse we will wait until they go, learn the hard way and come back again.

CIA officials know what they can and cannot do. After all, CIA and ISI are the two most dangerous and unpredictible species....people like us can't understand their flipflops, no matter how much 'tax' we pay.

I can't figure you out, one hand you claim of this great revival and pakistani plan of coming on top once we leave, and then in the next breath your layout a plan that requires our help ( us being back in the theater, funding you, our military helping you)to rid you guys of the terrorists you have bred . confusing but okay whatever bro

 

[FaujHistorian]

I can't figure you out, one hand you claim of this great revival and pakistani plan of coming on top once we leave, and then in the next breath your layout a plan that requires our help

joint problem, shared solution.

 

[JayAtl]

joint problem, shared solution.

Fauj, I know I am sounding like a broken record BUT there will be no "shared" to extent that helps you, maybe limited " shared " we do now at best - if Pak does not take the step of stopping the funding, training of terror groups that attacks us and our allies.

If you watch our ' open to public' congress and senate intelligence committee meetings in the US capitol , when the question of Pak comes up. This is the fundamental and glaring hurdle brought up by by every congressman and senator. They despise pakistan's assisting of such terror groups. every time any funding comes up they b itch and complain about it and threaten to pull all funding.

 

[PeaceGen]

joint problem, shared solution.

Please elaborate more on how you want to solve this problem, specifically what kinda military support you want from NATO to deal how with muslim extremists in Pakistan..

 

[FaujHistorian]

Fauj, I know I am sounding like a broken record BUT there will be no "shared" to extent that helps you, maybe limited " shared " we do now at best -

limited sharing is better than nothing.

no?

Please elaborate more on how you want to solve this problem, specifically what kinda military support you want from NATO to deal how with muslim extremists in Pakistan..

Well understood issues related to Pak-Af border area.

 

[Not Sure]

All of what you say here reeks of ignorance and grave disrespect for your own service members.

Yes, I am ignorant to everything except to the news... the latest being that the Pak Army killed over 30 innocents in its latest operations. Can you guess who gave that number?

When a terrorist dies from a Hellfire, he becomes a martyr. When innocents are killed by the army of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, they become enemy combatants.