Trump revokes Obama order on reporting civilians killed in US airstrikes

[Zippyjuan]

Most drone strikes had been turned over to the CIA who also does not report any civilian casualties. Civilian casualties make the military look bad.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/06/polit...ths/index.html

US intelligence officials will no longer be required to publicly disclose the number of civilians killed in airstrikes against terrorist targets "outside areas of active hostilities" due to a new executive order issued by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

However, given the secrecy surrounding counterterrorism strikes conducted by US intelligence agencies, it is unclear whether Wednesday's announcement will result in less transparency about how the US conducts such operations.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to clarify when asked for more information by CNN.

Specifically, Trump's order lifts an Obama-era mandate for intelligence professionals to provide an "unclassified summary of the number of strikes" as well as "assessments of combatant and non combatant deaths resulting from those strikes" each year.

The most recent published report, which was released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in January of 2017, said "US government" conducted 54 strikes outside of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan during 2016, resulting in one civilian death.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence referred questions about the change to the White House.

The secretary of defense is legally required to provide a similar report and will continue to do so despite Wednesday's executive order as that requirement falls under congressional oversight as outlined in the National Defense Authorization Act.

However, that report pertains solely to US military operations in places like Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya.

CNN has previously reported on at least one CIA strike that has taken place during the Trump administration, which occurred in Yemen, killing a senior al Qaeda bomb maker.

The White House said Wednesday's executive order was not an effort to decrease transparency about casualties resulting from US strikes.

"The United States Government is fully committed to complying with its obligations under the law of armed conflict, minimizing, to the greatest extent possible, civilian causalities, and acknowledging responsibility when they unfortunately occur during military operations," a National Security Council spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

Instead, the administration argues that the measure is intended to streamline the process by eliminating "superfluous reporting requirements."

"This action eliminates superfluous reporting requirements, requirements that do not improve government transparency, but rather distract our intelligence professionals from their primary mission," the spokesman added, noting that the report by the Pentagon, which will still be submitted to Congress, "has a broader geographic scope" in covering "civilian casualties resulting from US military air and ground operations worldwide."

"The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act requires the Department of Defense to submit a report on civilian casualties caused as a result of US military operations," Pentagon spokesperson Cmdr. Candice Tresch told CNN.

The Pentagon released its fiscal year 2017 report on June 1, 2018, and plans to release the 2018 report on May 1.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/militar...trikes-n802311

Trump Administration Wants to Increase CIA Drone Strikes

WASHINGTON — When President Donald Trump visited CIA headquarters in the first weeks of his presidency, he toured the secure floor where agency officers direct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, current and former U.S. officials told NBC News.

Impressed by what he saw, Trump conveyed to incoming CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the assembled agency officers that he wanted them to take a more aggressive posture, according to two current U.S. officials and one former official briefed on the visit.

Soon afterward, multiple sources said, the CIA began carrying out drone strikes that might not have been authorized under the Obama administration, including in Syria, where the military has taken the lead on targeting militant leaders.

The White House granted CIA officers more autonomy to decide on whether and when the U.S. can pull the trigger in various places around the world, including in Yemen, where the military carries out the bulk of the airstrikes, according to four U.S. officials who have been briefed on the agency's counterterrorism operations. The upshot is less micromanaging of targeting decisions by the White House, these officials say.

But such comparisons are hard to make. Because the CIA drone strikes are secret and the U.S. government will not officially confirm them, there is no way for outsiders to gauge their frequency or effectiveness. In recent years, officials say, the pace of CIA drone strikes has declined as the military has conducted most of the drone strikes in nearly every country in which they are occurring, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. But that also means it is not possible for outside groups to determine how many CIA strikes have occurred.

[Stratovarious]

The best way to eliminate the need for counter terrorism is to stop funding them, and
refrain from killing millions of civilians around the Globe under the guise of
making their lives better.

[enhanced_deficit]

They are not of our own races or culture, why should MAGA allow war effort to look bad by allowing free press coverage of such civilians and children?

If civilian life purists have pragmatic answer, please respond. Otherwise allow our national GOP-Adelson leadership to handle this in an America First manner.

[unknown]

Wow...

[Peace Piper]

From the lying fraud that said it was time to put America first. Apparently the buffoon meant American Weapons manufacturers.

If only somehow drones could hover over every city in the US, dropping a few bombs on random wedding parties or funerals.

What a despicable country the US has become.

This will be ignored by the bulk of the buffoon's supporters because they're on the R team! Pathetic.

Much like when Tulsi tried to tell Americans that their tax money is directly funding ISIS and Al-Queda



She can't even get a bill passed that outlaws funding terrorists.

#Tulsi2020 - the only candidate calling for an end to illegal and unconstitutional wars.

[Swordsmyth]

From the lying fraud that said it was time to put America first. Apparently the buffoon meant American Weapons manufacturers.

If only somehow drones could hover over every city in the US, dropping a few bombs on random wedding parties or funerals.

What a despicable country the US has become.

This will be ignored by the bulk of the buffoon's supporters because they're on the R team! Pathetic.

Much like when Tulsi tried to tell Americans that their tax money is directly funding ISIS and Al-Queda



She can't even get a bill passed that outlaws funding terrorists.

#Tulsi2020 - the only candidate calling for an end to illegal and unconstitutional wars.

Tulsi is more pro-war than Trump, she attacked him for withdrawing the troops from Syria.