Former US drone pilot quits, regretting bombing innocents, including
childrenA former US assassination drone pilot says he quit the force after
feeling numb about seeing a child and other civilians blown away in his
remote bombing of targets in Afghanistan and realizing he has unconsciously
developed a desire to kill.
Since leaving the controversial US targeted-killing program over two years
ago, the young ex-terror drone operator, who was recruited by the military
after graduating at the top of his class, has become homeless and detected
with post-traumatic stress disorder, which is commonly associated with US
soldiers in warfronts, according to US-based National Public Radio (NPR).
In a recent NPR interview, the former drone pilot, identified as 27-year-old
Brandon Bryant, offered some graphic details about feeling troubled after
witnessing the immediate outcome of his bombings in Afghanistan on video
screens beside his control buttons inside a windowless trailer somewhere in
a western US state, from where he fired off the missiles mounted on the
assassination drones flying some 10,000 miles (16,000 km) away.
Describing his first shot out in Afghanistan, Bryant said he was
specifically ordered to target a group of suspected militants that where
(idly) sitting on a hill, rather than another group of militants that were
firing at US soldiers nearby.
We fired the missile, and 1.2 seconds after the missile fires, it sonic
booms. And so the sonic boom gets there before the missile does
and then
the missile hits. And after the smoke clears, theres a crater there. You
can see body parts of the people, he explained. I watched him (one of the
men) bleed out. The blood rapidly cooled to become the same color as the
ground, because we were watching this in infrared.
Bryant then remembered thinking regretfully about the bombing, believing
that that the targeted men were just local folks that had to protect
themselves
and I think we jumped the gun.
The ex-drone pilot then went on to describe his next bombing in Afghanistan
in which, he says, he bombed a home of suspected militants but noticed a
child running around the house (on his video monitor) just before the
missile hit the target.
We just aim at the corner of the building, Bryant explained. Were going
to fire, and we do. And theres about six seconds left before the missile
impacts, and something runs around the corner of the building. And it looked
like a small person
It was a small, two-legged person. And the missile
hits. Theres no sign of this person.
Further elaborating on the aftermath of that bombing, he added, So we lock
our camera on there, and I ask the screener, who disseminates the video
feed,
who was that thing that ran on the screen?... and comes back and
says, oh, that was a dog.
But Bryant insists, It was a person. It was a small person. Like, there was
no doubt in my mind that that was not a - an adult.
I felt really numb, he further emphasized, recalling his thoughts after
realizing he had blown away a small child with a missile he fired off of a
US assassination drone flying over Afghanistan. I didnt feel distraught,
like I felt my first shot. I felt numb because this was the reality of war
and innocence can die as well.
According to the NPR reporter that interviewed Bryant, shortly after that
bombing, he decided to leave the [targeted-killing] program, boasted by the
Obama administration as its prime mean to root out suspected anti-US
militants in Muslim nations.
Bryant also explained that back in late 2010 he found himself really
disturbed about his thought of which militant he is going to kill today,
after looking at a poster in his work area of five top al-Qaeda leaders,
but then having second thoughts of thats just not who I am. I dont think
like that
I was taught to respect life and that if human life was to be
taken in a war, it should be done with respect.
He then underlined that he tried to talk to people about his feelings but
one of the weird things about the whole [assassination] drone community is
that you dont talk about anything that youve done. You just dont. So I
just shut up and didnt talk to anyone about how I was feeling or how I was
doing.
According to the NPR report, Bryant eventually quit the targeted-killing
program and has become homeless and staying with friends while attending
college in northwestern US state of Montana.
While noting that Bryant has also been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD), the NPR reported pointed to the growing realization that
PTSD can also affect terror-drone pilots, even though they havent been on
the battlefield.
The development comes while despite the rising controversy over the legality
of the secret assassination drone strikes and the high number of civilian
casualties caused by aerial bombings, as part of the US targeted killing
program, the Obama administration insists on continuing the lethal effort to
take out what it regards as anti-US terror suspect in Muslim nations.
MFB/MFB
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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