One of the most anticipated documentaries on drones directed and produced by Robert Greenwald has been released for audiences worldwide to finally see the US drone program for what it really is. The film takes viewers on a journey through the struggles of Pakistanis who have been affected by the strikes as well as a former USAF drone sensor operator’s feelings about what he has done (VIDEO).
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Brandon Bryant, an ex-USAD drone sensor operator starts the film off by explaining what drove him to become the person in charge of unmanned drones, millions of miles away from him.
"I decided to get into the air force because I was racking up college debt and I didn't know what else to do," Bryant said in the documentary. His commander told him what his daily task would be—controlling armed drones flying over regions of Iraq and Afghanistan. At the time when he started though, his initial thought was "it's pretty bad ass", however by the end of the roughly hour-long showing, it was clear to see by his facial expressions that feeling of pride for his job turned into pain.
The audience gets an inside look at how the drone program is in the US, Bryant telling that the instructors of the program say that we kill people and break things –and that is what the job is. During a usual mission, he and his team flew the drones in Iraq around 8,000 to 12,000 feet in the air, while in Afghanistan they reached the height of 18,000 to 25,000 feet high in the air.
Pulling away from the 27-year-old veteran's own personal story, the documentary takes viewers to Pakistan back in October of 2011—where drones are greatly despised by the majority of citizens there. During a formal gathering where international media, tribal elders, drone victims and the public came together in one room—they spoke of drones and how they have been negatively affecting their lives.
"These drones attack us and the whole world is silent," Kareem Khan, Tribal Elder said during the gathering in the film. Political Organizer Dr. Bashir Khan said at the drone meeting that you press a button and annihilate entire families and tribes. An eight year old girl was talked about during the conference in Pakistan too, where on August 23, 2010 she lost her life –a drone had struck her dead.
A few days after the powerful meeting, a rally went on in Islamabad, Pakistan against the use of US drones. In an intense voice, a man said during the protest we want to send a message to America, the more drone attacks you conduct, the more people will resent you. The rally was huge, thousands attended.
Another key component to the captivating documentary was a story they followed of a young man named Tariq Aziz, a 16-year-old who showed up at the formal gathering to give his support. Within a short amount of time, Aziz was taken down by a drone, and lost his life. Only a student at the time, his family and friends at the funeral procession exclaimed that happiness had disappeared along with Tariq.
Though, the US government holds a firm stance on why they attack people they believe to be terrorists, while local community members in Pakistan know the same "terrorists", like Aziz as a victim, caught in the crossfire. One valid question, which popped up during the film, was why the US government took it upon themselves to use a drone on the young student and not work with Pakistani officials to gain better insight on whether or not he actually was affiliated with a terrorist network.
"A lot of the terrorist networks that target the United States, the dangerous ones operate in very remote regions and it's very difficult to capture them," President Obama said in the film. Still, an eerie statistic which the documentary makes clear is that more people have been killed by drones than captured in the past couple of years.
As far as the incident with Tariq is concerned, one commentator in the video suggests that there was someone in the room of the gathering that was an informant for the US intelligence services. It was that very person who picked Tariq out of the crowd during the gathering.
After data had been released, reports came out claiming that four militants were killed from drone strikes, when in all actuality two kids—one of them being Tariq—was struck down by the unmanned, armed machine someone had been operating on a different continent. The data from the report also stated that "adult males were supporting al-Qaeda's facilitation network".
Various lawmakers in the documentary bring up points against using drones. In fact one activist highlighted the fact that killing the boy hasn't made the citizens or the world for that matter any safer of a place. Instead, his family and friends have been forced to live their lives without one of the most cherished people they know.
On the other side of the drone, Bryant opened up about how he felt after killing someone, especially if he didn't know if this person was the right target. "I didn't know how to react, they don't teach you how to react they just teach you how to do it," Bryant admits during the dramatic film. Even when he visited the chaplain for advice, the religious figure said what he was doing was in God's plan.
It has been noted that more than 98 percent of people hit by drone strikes have not been high value targets. Though, a sub-category the US uses when attacking possible threats with drones is what they call a signature strike. This kind of strike has been defined as civilians who fit the signature of what the US believes to be a threat. However, US officials are not sure of how many people or what their true identity is when striking them down during a signature hit.
Needless to say, the US drone program is creating more enemies than allies, as left and right civilians fall dead, and eyewitnesses stare in complete and utter confusion. Of what is known, at least 1400 people have lost their lives to drone hits, however the number could be even higher.
People all over the world have shown their concern over drone attacks, which have killed innocent bystanders. Protests have taken place in the UK, Australia, the US, Pakistan, and a bunch of other nations where citizens have taken a stance against the US government's drone program.
Even though lives are lost, the documentary points out that at the end of the day someone is profiting from this security program. Creating drones and sending them into the air has become a lucrative business, Boeing received $1.8 billion dollars, Northrop Grumman got $10.9 billion, General Atomics took in $6.6 billion, and Raytheon received $648 million dollars' worth in drone contracts. Not only is the US using
drones, 50 other countries have been reported to have them in their possession.
