Drone roundup August 6-20

This roundup, curated by ReThink Media, looks at how the media is talking about drone warfare (and related topics) and what stories are being told.

With little transparency from governments on this topic, this roundup aims to be as comprehensive as possible, identifying breaking news, trends, developing stories, or interesting narratives. Rethink Media also use media coverage to compile a snapshot of strikes each week. The short version can be read here.

When Afghanistan’s military and security forces surrendered to the Taliban it also surrendered troves of U.S. provided weapons, equipment and vehicles
“Video showed the advancing insurgents inspecting long lines of vehicles and opening crates of new firearms, communications gear and even military drones.”  [Reuters / Idrees Ali and Patricia Zengerle, Jonathan Landay] 

Reflections on the heroic nature of Air Force vet Danie Hale’s decision to leak documents exposing the human cost of America’s drone wars
COMMENTARY: “Hale readily admitted he was guilty — guilty of trying to save human life rather than destroy it. Guilty of thinking that maybe, just maybe, if he exposed the nature of America’s monstrous actions, citizens who still cared might be sufficiently aroused that they would take action to reclaim their republic and stop the obscenity done in their names.”
“Real justice would turn America’s empire upside down. Real justice would place patriotic dissent at the very pinnacle of our society’s most esteemed qualities.” [Salon / Lawrence Wilkerson]

COMMENTARY: “The lack of public outrage — and even the ho-humming over whistle-blowers like Hale or the others who have bravely criticized the program — was pretty much the whole idea behind the flying death robot concept. The Pentagon guessed right that Americans wouldn’t rise up to protest our military meddling overseas if their next-door neighbors weren’t coming home from some far-away land in body bags, and thus not question our dubious entanglements in places like Afghanistan, or places where we didn’t even know we were fighting, like Niger.”
“Our knowledge of the immoral nature of drone warfare should also buck up support for President Biden as — in the face of enormous criticism from the military-industrial complex — he finally winds down the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan this summer.” [The Philadelphia Inquirer / Will Bunch]

Somalia
Biden’s drone war: The implications of prolonged US intervention in Somalia [The New Arab / Jonathan Fenton-Harvey]

 

Read the full roundup here, here, here, here and here.