WASHINGTON — The military is investigating what appears to be the first case of American troops killed by a missile fired from a US drone.
The investigation is looking into the deaths of a Marine and a Navy medic killed last week by a Hellfire missile fired from a Predator after they apparently were mistaken for insurgents in southern Afghanistan, two senior US defense officials said yesterday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Unmanned aircraft have proven to be powerful weapons in Afghanistan and Iraq and their use has expanded to new areas and operations each year of those conflicts. Some drones are used for surveillance and some, such as the drone in this case, are armed to hunt and kill militants....
Or whoever happens to be standing under or near them when they land.
Other military services have their own drones, ranging from the Army’s smaller shoulder-launched Ravens to the sophisticated, high-altitude Global Hawks, which are used for surveillance missions and do not carry weapons.
The military’s use of armed drones in Afghanistan has become a flashpoint for Afghan anger over civilian deaths in the nearly 10-year-old war.
Drones are an even more contentious weapon in Pakistan, where they are largely operated by the CIA to strike insurgents hiding along the border. Pakistan tacitly allows the drone strikes within limited areas but denies in public that it permits the Americans such leeway.
That's why the government is hated by the people.
The Pentagon plans to add $2.6 billion more in drone targeting and surveillance equipment for the Afghan campaign this year, said a senior intelligence official in Afghanistan.
Oh, another $2 BILLION-plus for WAR while SOCIAL SERVICES and SCHOOLS are SLASHED!
The boost confirms the new focus on intelligence, for a mission that previously was last in line for assets and personnel after the Iraq war.
That is the new term for mass murder form on high, huh?
--more--"
Do you think they heard the whoooooooooshhhhh first?
