The cold war between America and Iran has just gotten a whole lot hotter. CNN has reported that Iran shot at an unarmed US drone. According to CNN, which never quotes Iranian officials and instead relies entirely on unnamed US officials, the drone was in international waters near Kuwait on a routine mission when it was fired upon. But as John Glasser points out
The claim that the drone was in international airspace cannot be confirmed, but it is dubious considering the difficulty Iran would have of firing on a small drone far from its own territory.
The claim that the unarmed Predator drone was engaged in “routine maritime surveillance” is also very dubious. First of all, just because it was “routine” has no bearing on whether its activity could justly be seen as hostile.
And if it was routine, and the Pentagon has nothing to hide, then the surveillance mission should not have been classified, as it was.
Thankfully there are still media organizations like Antiwar.com and the Christian Science Monitor who are questioning CNN’s reporting on this incident. For a great take on how CNN is merely acting as a PR firm for the White House read Glenn Greenwalds piece from yesterday.
All of this comes on the heels of Patrick Clawson’s disturbing comments on how the US could provoke a war with Iran. Clawson is the head of the Israeli funded pro-Israel think tank the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
While our peace loving President gave another bland and erroneous speech at the UN today on how much America loves the Muslim world and democracy, a new report came out detailing the destructive and violent nature that the drone wars have been inflicting on the people of Pakistan. The report is yet another damning look at how awful and illegal this particular policy is. The report in entitled “Living Under Drones” and I urge anyone unfamiliar with the drone war to read it. It is time that the American people wake up and throw off the shackles that our political overlord have placed upon us. We do not need to be engaged in constant warfare in which we murder innocent people in order to make us “safe”. This is the most counterproductive way of going about protecting America. When you step into that voting booth in 42 days here are a few things you should think about.
Total US strikes: 346
Obama strikes: 294
Total reported killed: 2,570-3,337
Civilians reported killed: 474-884
Children reported killed: 176
Total reported injured: 1,232-1,366 For the latest Pakistan strike data click here.
US Covert Action in Yemen 2002 – 2012
Total confirmed US operations (all): 52-62
Total confirmed US drone strikes: 40-50
Possible additional US operations: 117-133
Possible additional US drone strikes: 61-71
Total reported killed (all): 357-1,026
Total civilians killed (all): 60-163
Children killed (all): 24-34 For the latest data from Yemen click here.
US Covert Action in Somalia 2007 – 2012
Total US strikes: 10-22
Total US drone strikes: 3-9
Total reported killed: 58-169
Civilians reported killed: 11-57
Children reported killed: 1-3 For the complete data on Somalia click here.
Porkins Policy Review 