US drone operator.“I’m sorry that the mistake happened,"

[Cortana]

US drone operator says attacks conducted with uncertainty

Former US drone operator Brandon Bryant, who was involved in the killing of more than 1600 people, says aerial strikes are conducted with complete uncertainty.

Bryant, who worked for almost five years in America's secret drone program bombing targets in Afghanistan and other countries, such as Pakistan and Iraq, said operators lacked visibility and were not sure about the identity of the people they were shooting at.

“We see silhouette, shadows of people, and we kill those shadows,” said Bryant.

“There was no oversight,” said the operator. “I just know that the inside of the entire program was diseased and people need to know what happens to those that were on the inside.”

Bryant, who left his job in 2011, apologized to the families of the US drone victims whose deaths he was responsible for, citing that he “couldn’t stand” himself for the killings.

“I’m sorry that the mistake happened. I’m doing everything that I can to prevent further mistakes from happening,” he said.

Since 2001, the US has been carrying out drone attacks in several countries, including Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia. It insists that the targets of the drone attacks are militants.

Local officials and witnesses however say civilians have been the main victims of the attacks.

Data released by human rights group Reprieve, that was published last November, indicated that attempts to kill 41 targeted individuals across Pakistan and Yemen resulted in the killing of at least 1,147 people.

 

[PlanetWarrior]

Kill 1600 people and then say "I'm sorry". Really easy to do, just like directing a hellfire missile towards a person whose identity hasn't been established beyond a reasonable doubt

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Kill 1600 people and then say "I'm sorry". Really easy to do, just like directing a hellfire missile towards a person whose identity hasn't been established beyond a reasonable doubt

He was only involved with 7 strikes. This article is over 1 year old.

A Drone Warrior’s Torment: Ex-Air Force Pilot Brandon Bryant on His Trauma from Remote Killing | Democracy Now!


"AMY GOODMAN: In total, Bryant says he was involved in seven missions in which his Predator fired a missile at a target, and about 13 people died in those strikes. He describes the grisly scenes he watched unfold on his monitor as an Air Force drone operator in a new article in GQ magazine, "Confessions of a Drone Warrior" by Matt Power. He joins us now in our New York studio."

 

[I.R.A]

Drone Operator: Sir did we just blow a kid

Commanding Officer: "No, soldier that was a dog"

 

[Cheetah786]

He was only involved with 7 strikes. This article is over 1 year old.

A Drone Warrior’s Torment: Ex-Air Force Pilot Brandon Bryant on His Trauma from Remote Killing | Democracy Now!


"AMY GOODMAN: In total, Bryant says he was involved in seven missions in which his Predator fired a missile at a target, and about 13 people died in those strikes. He describes the grisly scenes he watched unfold on his monitor as an Air Force drone operator in a new article in GQ magazine, "Confessions of a Drone Warrior" by Matt Power. He joins us now in our New York studio."

This is from the link you provided.
Former U.S. Air Force pilot Brandon Bryant served as a sensor operator for the Predator program from 2007 to 2011, manning the camera on the unmanned aerial vehicles that carried out attacks overseas. After he left the active duty in the Air Force, he was presented with a certificate that credited his squadron for 1,626 kills. In total,

 

[Irfan Baloch]

Drone Operator: Sir did we just blow a kid

Commanding Officer: "No, soldier that was a dog"

read this piece on Dawn.. cant find the link now

it goes like this


to that the operator commented .. "A dog that walks on 2 legs?!"

 

[Jaanbaz]

Drone strikes are illegal and compromises the international borders of Pakistan. Only Pakistan Armed Forces reserves the right to use drones in its territory.

 

[Irfan Baloch]

This is from the link you provided.
Former U.S. Air Force pilot Brandon Bryant served as a sensor operator for the Predator program from 2007 to 2011, manning the camera on the unmanned aerial vehicles that carried out attacks overseas. After he left the active duty in the Air Force, he was presented with a certificate that credited his squadron for 1,626 kills. In total,

I support drone strikes on terrorists but I do oppose their ruthless and vengeful use like during Kyani time when there was a huge gulf between the countries and right after Raymond Davis release, the CIA retaliated by conducting a strike on an open gathering in the middle of a village killing over 60 people which was blatant and CIA wanted to show that it did it on purpose for arresting their black ops assassin.

Drone strikes are illegal and compromises the international borders of Pakistan. Only Pakistan Armed Forces reserves the right to use drones in its territory.

and the catch 22 is that America cant share this sensitive technology and those targets must be taken out which violate our sovereignty but also send people like Baith Ullah and Hakim Ullah to hell.

 

[PlanetWarrior]

Drone strikes are illegal and compromises the international borders of Pakistan. Only Pakistan Armed Forces reserves the right to use drones in its territory.

I personally have no problem with a country eg Pakistan requesting the US to assist in eliminating threats which Pakistan cannot handle on its own. Rather send in a US drone to whack out a few terrorists who would sooner or later move into a school and kill helpless children for reasons which cannot be justified by any sane human than lose a dozen or so soldiers fighting them. The problem I have is with the collateral damage. Drones are a double edged sword. In trying to prevent the massacre of innocent people by terrorists, they in turn massacre innocent civilians at times. The technology certainly needs to be improved if it is to be used

 

[Jaanbaz]

and the catch 22 is that America cant share this sensitive technology and those targets must be taken out which violate our sovereignty but also send people like Baith Ullah and Hakim Ullah to hell.

On the one hand its good that Drones have taken out valuable Taliban and Al-Qaida leaders. But where do you draw a line? Who made some foreigner a judge and executioner? To Americans any one with a beard, kameez shalwaar and an Ak47 is a terrorist, but that's pretty much every tribal man in FATA.

I personally have no problem with a country eg Pakistan requesting the US to assist in eliminating threats which Pakistan cannot handle on its own. Rather send in a US drone to whack out a few terrorists who would sooner or later move into a school and kill helpless children for reasons which cannot be justified by any sane human than lose a dozen or so soldiers fighting them. The problem I have is with the collateral damage. Drones are a double edged sword. In trying to prevent the massacre of innocent people by terrorists, they in turn massacre innocent civilians at times. The technology certainly needs to be improved if it is to be used

Its not just technology but also the human intelligence on the ground. I assume the intelligence is gathered by local agents. There are fierce tribal rivalries, who is to say they don't use this to feed wrong intelligence to bomb rival Tribes? We did have cases of tribal councils been bombed by Americans.