Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #DroneStrike

Most recents (6)

Two discrepancies in @SecDef Austin's vs. @CENTCOM Gen. McKenzie's statements on Friday about Kabul #DroneStrike.

- On definite nature of the intelligence failure.
- On potentially prejudicing next step of investigation.

McKenzie's statements are cause for concern.

<thread>
2. On left, Sec. Austin:

"We now KNOW that there was NO CONNECTION between Mr. Ahmadi and ISIS-Khorasan..."

On right, Gen. McKenzie:

"We now assess that it is UNLIKELY that the vehicle and those who died were associated with ISIS-K or were a direct threat to U.S. forces."

🧐 ImageImage
3. On left, Austin:

Says DoD will review Centcom investigation to consider fulness of investigation, info used in strike, need for accountability, etc.

On right, McKenzie:

Says all US operators acted “in accordance with” ROE, took “prudent steps” to avoid civilians, etc. ImageImage
Read 5 tweets
Thoughts on the #Dronestrike in #Kabul that killed an #Afghan family. For background I was the Chief of High Value Targeting on the Joint Staff 2002-03, led UN war crimes investigations in #Afghanistan in 2011, and in 2015 assisted in a study of airstrikes while deployed on the
USS Theodore Roosevelt while working for @CNA_org. There are two types of airstrikes - deliberate and dynamic. Deliberate are planned long in advance, have numerous checks, use a pattern of life analysis, and have a relatively low incident of civilian casualties. Dynamic strikes,
such as Time Sensitive Targeting, are when the attacker has a small window of opportunity to engage a mobile target that is of high value. In a TST there is rarely time for a pattern of life analysis, structured collateral damage estimate, and all the checks normally conducted.
Read 13 tweets
Monday @just_security:

We have dozens of questions for Congress, reporters, investigators to ask to get to bottom of what happened with U.S. #DroneStrike in Kabul on Aug 29.

cc: @EricSchmittNYT @mgordonwsj @helenecooper @barbarastarrcnn @missy_ryan @JenGriffinFNC @laraseligman
2. Example

As @ICRC explains, the presumption of civilian status is a part of binding laws of war. Isn’t it true that @DeptofDefense has highly anomalous view that considers this rule NOT part of binding laws of war? Does the US government as a whole agree with DoD’s position?
3. Who were the most senior DoD officials who authorized or signed off on the strike?

Before taking the strike, what did DoD estimate would be total number of civilian casualties killed?

What did DoD consider would have been acceptable level of civilian casualties?
Read 4 tweets
The US has announced that it carried out a drone attack in eastern Afghanistan against a “planner” of an ISIL-affiliated group, a day after an attack outside Kabul’s airport that killed at least 175 people and 13 US troops. 1/5

#ISIS #DroneStrike #US #KabulAirportBlasts #DY365
“The unmanned airstrike occurred in the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. Initial indications are that we killed the target,” Captain Bill Urban of the US Central Command said in a statement. 2/5
“We know of no civilian casualties,” he added in a statement announcing the first reported US raid since the attack. 3/5
Read 5 tweets
On a totally unrelated topic to current news, I am wondering who's heard about Barack Obama’s “Kill Matrix.” The “Kill Matrix” is a program that was originally developed by the Obama administration. The @guardian described it as “a sophisticated grid, mounted upon a database...
@guardian 2/ that is said to have been more than two years in the development, containing biographies of individuals believed to pose a threat to US interests, and their known or suspected locations, as well as a range of options for their disposal.” The finer details of this Kill List...
@guardian 3/ as it is colloquially referred to, are understandably vague. The actual procedure by which an individual is placed on the list is secret, and the bases on which the government chooses to authorize lethal force have not been revealed, but Obama executed lots of people from...
Read 4 tweets
Need a long range drone that can fly 200+ kilometer? At @AlibabaB2B Jiangsu Digital Eagle sells this 28.000 euro vehicle, m.alibaba.com/product/620615… But homemade drones are cheaper, around $15000 The motor costs around $1500 via alibaba. Bombing #SaudiArabia is “cheap”...
So was it a homemade drone or not? Meet the Quds 1. armscontrolwonk.com/archive/120806… (Based on photos claimed to be from bombed oilfield #SaudiArabia #DroneAttacks #DroneAttack see for claimed source) (3/3)
Read 3 tweets

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