Predator drones increasingly a museum piece thanks to more lethal models (Justinpickard/ Flickr)
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) usually gets all the credit for the first US drone targeted killing beyond the conventional battlefield.
But it was the military which gave the final go-ahead to kill on November 3 2002.
Lt General Michael DeLong was at Centcom headquarters in Tampa, Florida when news came in that the CIA had found its target. The deputy commander made his way down to the UAV Room, showing live video feeds from a CIA Predator high above Marib province in Yemen.
The armed drone was tracking an SUV on the move. The six terrorist suspects inside were unaware that a decision had already been made to kill them.
Interviewed by PBS, DeLong later recalled speaking by phone with CIA Director George Tenet as he watched the video wall:
‘Tenet goes “You going to make the call?” And I said, “I’ll make the call.” He says, “This SUV over here is the one that has Ali in it.” I said, “OK, fine.” You know, “Shoot him.” They lined it up and shot it.’
Eight thousand miles away and moments later, six alleged terrorists were dead. Among them was a US citizen.
‘Orchestrator’ killed
The media carried detailed accounts of the ‘secret’ attack within days. Yemen’s government, which had co-operated on the strike, also released the names of the six men killed, including that of US citizen Kemal Darwish.
Concerns he had been deliberately targeted were dismissed, as it was reported the intended CIA target was Qa’id Salim Sinan al-Harithi, al Qaeda’s ‘orchestrator’ of the lethal attack on the USS Cole.
As the New York Times noted at the time, ‘Mr. Harethi was not on the FBI’s list of the 22-most-wanted terrorist fugitives in the world,’ and added that ’although investigators wanted to question Mr. Harethi about the Cole bombing, the CIA did not consult law enforcement officials before the Yemeni operation.’
A secret US cable, dated a fortnight prior to the strike, also shows that Yemen’s government had already incarcerated more than a dozen men wanted in connection with the Cole bombing. At least one of them, Fahd al Quso, was killed in a subsequent US drone strike.
Although investigators wanted to question Mr. Harethi about the Cole bombing, the CIA did not consult law enforcement officials before the Yemeni operation’
New York Times, November 2002
Questions remain about how much the CIA and Centcom actually knew about the presence of a US citizen that day.
When assistant US defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz openly discussed the strike with CNN on November 5, he noted only that a ‘successful tactical operation [has] gotten rid of somebody dangerous.’ It would be many years before senior officials would again openly acknowledge the covert drones project.
No inevitability
The way had been cleared for the November 2002 killings months earlier, when President Bush lifted a 25-year ban on US assassinations just after 9/11.
He later wrote that ‘George [Tenet] proposed that I grant broader authority for covert actions, including permission for the CIA to kill or capture al Qaeda operatives without asking for my sign-off each time. I decided to grant the request.’
Since then, under both Bush and Obama, the US has carried out targeted killings (or extrajudicial executions according to UN experts) using conventional aircraft and helicopter strikes; cruise missiles; and even naval bombardments.
Yet the drone remains the US’s preferred method of killing. The Bureau has identified a minimum of 2,800 (and as many as 4,100) killed in covert US drone strikes over the past ten years. What began as an occasional tactic has, over time, morphed into an industrialised killing process.
Every confirmed US drone strike in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia recorded 2002-2012.
There was no inevitability to this when the strikes began. Time magazine opined in 2002 that covert drone attacks were ‘unlikely to become a norm.’ And in the early years of the programme this was true. The next covert drone strike took place in Pakistan in June 2004, followed by a further strike 11 months later.
Yet slowly, surely, the United States has come to depend on its drone killing programme. By Obama’s presidency drone use against alleged militants was sometimes daily. Six times more covert strikes have hit Pakistan under Barack Obama than under George W Bush. And as the Bureau’s work shows, when known strikes in Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan are added together, they reveal a growing dependence upon covert drone killings.
Recent reports show that the US is now formalising the drone killing project. Some insiders talk of a decade or more of killing to come, with Mitt Romney noting that he would continue the policy if elected.
In Washington at least, a decade of targeted killings of alleged terror suspects appears to have normalised the process.
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November 3rd, 2012 at 8:48 pm (#)
From stenography — “Washington believes he orchestrated the suicide attack on the U.S.S. Cole” — http://www.time.com,
to journalmalism — ” . . . Qa’id Salim Sinan al-Harithi, al Qaeda’s ‘orchestrator’ of the lethal attack on the USS Cole.” — http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com.
What is the connection between the stenography of 2002 and 2012. Poor journalism.
November 18th, 2012 at 12:00 am (#)
Response to Seedee Vee:
No. The article above says ‘it was reported the intended CIA target was Qa’id Salim Sinan al-Harithi, al Qaeda’s ‘orchestrator’ of the lethal attack on the USS Cole.’ IT WAS REPORTED…. which is a statement of fact. The article does not say that he actually was the ‘orchestrator’. Sloppy thinking on your part.
November 27th, 2012 at 7:53 pm (#)
It is indeed impressive how accurate Drone strikes have become and how they have lead to a direct and measurable decrease in civilian casualties. The next generation of Drones will seek to miniaturize the weaponry carried by these capable devices to further reduce collateral damage. As to the morality of using such devices, it is perhaps more an issue of survival than choice. Is it moral to shoot the lion that is stalking you before it attacks, or wait until it has made off with an arm or leg before realizing that it is at credible threat?
November 27th, 2012 at 10:05 pm (#)
After a great deal of consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the ends justify the means with regards to current U.S. drone strategy versus the well documented intensions of extremist groups to destroy those who do not convert to Islam, and live their lives in accordance with Islamic sharia law.
The six terrorists were well aware of the consequences of joining a terror group. The decision to kill them was actually made by the terrorists’ themselves – the day they joined al Qaeda
November 27th, 2012 at 10:11 pm (#)
An industrialised killing process is something the Third Reich did. Drone attacks are the exact opposite. So stop exaggerating.
November 29th, 2012 at 1:37 pm (#)
I’d be fine with the drone killing if it wasn’t for the extremely high number of innocent people getting killed by them. For a weapon so accurate, how are all these women and children dieing? The flippant choice to kill by drone pilots is still the biggest problem for the innocent people of Pakistan.
December 2nd, 2012 at 4:37 pm (#)
answer to bmurray:
how do you think other bigger countries will respect International Law in the light what USA is doing outside its own boundaries ??
Murdering people USA declares who are terrorists ?
And in the light of all these bombings and illegal invaded countries by USA and NATO are those freedom-fighters all really terrorists ?
I doubt.
The whole actions are illegal in great manner and could point to future actions of other countries if USA and some NATO members’ countries fall !
If one day Russia or China or India or Brasil decide that some US Americans, or British people are “terrorists” acting against them in foreign countries ! How does this sound to you ??
monalisa
December 12th, 2012 at 6:42 am (#)
Morgan,
The decision to employ weapons on a target is not held by any member of a Predator or Reaper “drone”. That decision is made by the commander on the ground in the case of conventional-ish operations (i.e. Afghanistan) and either the CIA or JSOC commander in the case of Pakistan and the Horn of Africa.
December 20th, 2012 at 10:56 pm (#)
US has no jurisdiction in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan or Afghanistan. US has no right to kill any one any where outside the borders of the US. And inside the US, US must carry out the due process before killing any one.
All these killings are murders, they are illegal under international law. The commander that issued the order is liable under the norms of international law, and under the local Yemeni law, murder carries a death sentence.
If the US has extradition treaty with Yemen, it should have
simply provided its legally obtained evidence to Yemeni authorities and asked the suspect to be apprehended and extradited to US. Either way, there is nothing that US could legally do about a murder suspect living beyound US’s border.
January 27th, 2013 at 12:55 pm (#)
As has been said, drone strikes are not “industrialised killing” but forensic pinpoints. Regrettable though it is, most terrorists and other ‘freedom fighters’, from the IRA to the Taliban to the Gaza rocketeers choose to fight from within civilian communities which inevitably means civilian casualties.
But the US is not the only country developing drones. I wonder what will be the reaction when the first Al Quaida drone strikes the Pentagon, or the White House?