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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRevealed: U.S. Targets Death Strikes Using Mobile Phones
By John Byrne
Monday, February 10, 2014 9:28 EST
Be careful when you answer the phone.
Thats the message you might heed when considering National Security Operations and CIA operations in Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan, according to a new report.
According to documents and an interview with an alleged former drone operator, the United States uses geolocation targeting that tracks the location of mobile phones to plot strikes on targets in countries where it believes militants are hiding out. Trouble is, theyre not necessarily coupling it with information on the ground, meaning that strike targets can be determined by the locations of their phones alone.
Whats more, the fact that the U.S. may rely solely on phone locations means that others can easily become victims of a strike. According the former drone operator quoted in the report, published Monday by Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill in First Look, those who believe they might be targets have taken to sharing SIM cards, meaning the actual identities of those carrying phones are obscured.
They might have been terrorists, he says. Or they could have been family members who have nothing to do with the targets activities.
Once the bomb lands or a night raid happens, you know that phone is there, he continues. But we dont know whos behind it, whos holding it. Its of course assumed that the phone belongs to a human being who is nefarious and considered an unlawful enemy combatant. This is where it gets very shady.
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/10/revealed-u-s-targets-death-strikes-using-mobile-phones/
indepat
(20,899 posts)collateral damage will be a necessary by-product. Terra will be expunged, however, no matter the cost in treasure, innocent lives, wanton destruction, and the other collateral damage inflicted.
G_j
(40,366 posts)yep