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‘Gambling with lives’: Private contractors pick US drone targets

“An 'insatiable' demand for analysts of drone intelligence is driving the US military to hire private contractors, with 1 in 10 analysts now a civilian, says a new report. Civilian analysts describe their work as “gambling,” with innocent lives at stake. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ), a UK-based nonprofit, conducted a six-month probe into the US military’s contracting of drone data analysts, using specially designed software to sift through some 8 million transaction records published by the Pentagon between 2009 to 2014. They also interviewed some of the contractors, who asked to remain anonymous.”

“Contractors interviewed by the BIJ, speaking on condition of anonymity, say they are usually former military. They say they have more knowledge and experience than the uniformed airmen, who are often fresh high-school graduates. [...] The civilians review live footage from drones and spy planes surveilling the battlefields of the Middle East, and advise uniformed operators whether the people they spot are civilians or potential targets. While the contractors never pull the trigger themselves, their advice shapes the thinking of military operators and commanders.”

“'As a civilian I don’t have authority to arrest someone, but if I call the police and say ‘this person’s doing something,’ and say ‘I think that guy’s dangerous’ … the police are going to turn up primed to respond to the threat, they’ll turn up trusting my statement,' said one analyst, who asked to be called John. 'It could be argued that I was responsible, but I’m not the one shooting.' Every call he makes is a gamble, John explained, with the stakes being the lives of innocents. 'That is a motivation to play as safely as I can, because I don’t want someone who wasn’t a bad guy to get killed,' he said.”

“At least 6,000 civilians have been killed in US drone strikes across the world, according to a group of 45 US military veterans who appealed to drone operators to stand down and 'save your soul' in an open letter circulated last month.”


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