When Drones Crash They Reveal U.S. War Operations

Washington Post: How crashing drones are exposing secrets about U.S. war operations

Crashing drones are spilling secrets about U.S. military operations.

A surveillance mission was exposed last week when a Predator drone crashed in northwest Syria while spying on the home turf of President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. officials believe the drone was shot down, but they haven’t ruled out mechanical failure. Regardless, the wreckage offered the first hard evidence of a U.S. confrontation with Assad’s forces.

The mishap in Syria follows a string of crashes in Yemen, another country where the U.S. military keeps virtually all details of its drone operations classified.

WNU Editor: A must read overview on U.S. drone operations. Bottom line .... we are becoming more and more dependent on them for our national security/defense needs.

A Look At The Drone War In Pakistan

Supporters of Pakistan's Islamist party Pasban hold placards as they shout anti-American slogans during a protest in Karachi October 23, 2013, against US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal region. (Reuters/Athar Hussain)

The Unblinking Stare -- Steve Coll, New Yorker

The drone war in Pakistan.

At the Pearl Continental Hotel, in Peshawar, a concrete tower enveloped by flowering gardens, the management has adopted security precautions that have become common in Pakistan’s upscale hospitality industry: razor wire, vehicle barricades, and police crouching in bunkers, fingering machine guns. In June, on a hot weekday morning, Noor Behram arrived at the gate carrying a white plastic shopping bag full of photographs. He had a four-inch black beard and wore a blue shalwar kameez and a flat Chitrali hat. He met me in the lobby. We sat down, and Behram spilled his photos onto a table. Some of the prints were curled and faded. For the past seven years, he said, he has driven around North Waziristan on a small red Honda motorcycle, visiting the sites of American drone missile strikes as soon after an attack as possible.

Read more ....

My Comment: A long and comprehensive analysis on the U.S. drone war against Taliban And Al Qaeda militants in Pakistan, and its impact on the civilian populations. A must read for those who follow America's drone wars.