“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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