Drone Whistleblower Claim – Pilots Often High on Drugs; Refer to Children as “Fun Size Terrorists”

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The killings, part of the Obama administration’s targeted assassination program, are aiding terrorist recruitment and thus undermining the program’s goal of eliminating such fighters, the veterans added. Drone operators refer to children as “fun-size terrorists” and liken killing them to “cutting the grass before it grows too long,” said one of the operators, Michael Haas, a former senior airman in the Air Force. Haas also described widespread drug and alcohol abuse, further stating that some operators had flown missions while impaired.

Haas also described widespread alcohol and drug abuse among drone pilots. Drone operators, he said, would frequently get intoxicated using bath salts and synthetic marijuana to avoid possible drug testing and in an effort to “bend that reality and try to picture yourself not being there.” Haas said that he knew at least a half-dozen people in his unit who were using bath salts and that drug use had “impaired” them during missions.

– From the Intercept article: Former Drone Operators Say They Were “Horrified” by Cruelty of Assassination Program

I’ve highlighted the plight of several brave drone whistleblowers over the years who came forth to decry the barbaric and likely illegal nature of the U.S. drone program. Recently, four of them came together to denounce it more forcefully and provide more disturbing information. They also wrote a letter to Obama.

The Intercept published a powerful story on them the other day, here are a few excerpts:

U.S. DRONE OPERATORS are inflicting heavy civilian casualties and have developed an institutional culture callous to the death of children and other innocents, four former operators said at a press briefing today in New York.

The killings, part of the Obama administration’s targeted assassination program, are aiding terrorist recruitment and thus undermining the program’s goal of eliminating such fighters, the veterans added. Drone operators refer to children as “fun-size terrorists” and liken killing them to “cutting the grass before it grows too long,” said one of the operators, Michael Haas, a former senior airman in the Air Force. Haas also described widespread drug and alcohol abuse, further stating that some operators had flown missions while impaired.

In addition to Haas, the operators are former Air Force Staff Sgt. Brandon Bryant along with former senior airmen Cian Westmoreland and Stephen Lewis. The men have conducted kill missions in many of the major theaters of the post-9/11 war on terror, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“We have seen the abuse firsthand,” said Bryant, “and we are horrified.”

Recall Bryant was the guy who quit after a supervisor tried to tell him a little kid they killed was just a dog.

Haas also described widespread alcohol and drug abuse among drone pilots. Drone operators, he said, would frequently get intoxicated using bath salts and synthetic marijuana to avoid possible drug testing and in an effort to “bend that reality and try to picture yourself not being there.” Haas said that he knew at least a half-dozen people in his unit who were using bath salts and that drug use had “impaired” them during missions.

The operators said that they felt increasing urgency to speak out in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris last week; they believe drone assassinations have fed the rise of the extremist group the Islamic State, which has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In their open letter to Obama, the former drone pilots made a similar point, writing that during their service they “came to the realization that the innocent civilians we were killing only fueled the feelings of hatred that ignited terrorism and groups like ISIS,” going on to describe the program as “one of the most devastating driving forces for terrorism and destabilization around the world.”

Read the full letter the drone whistleblowers sent to Obama here.

For more on the sickening drone program, see:

Meet Brandon Bryant: The Drone Operator Who Quit After Killing a Child

Leaks from a Drone Program Whistleblower – Highlights from the Intercept’s Blockbuster Investigation

This is What Really Happens in the Drone Program from an Insider

Pentagon Plans to Boost Drone Flights 50% as Bernanke Warns Cutting Defense Spending Could Hurt Economy

45 U.S. Military Veterans Sign Letter Urging Drone Operators to “Refuse to Fly”

McClatchy Study: Obama Administration Has No Idea Who They are Killing with Drones

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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11 thoughts on “Drone Whistleblower Claim – Pilots Often High on Drugs; Refer to Children as “Fun Size Terrorists””

  1. The list of war criminals is long but I am willing to have them tried by a jury of their peers and then most likely executed by a drone strike, who’s with me?

    Reply
    • Sorry, but a jury of war criminals would have a compelling reason to acquit another war criminal.
      It just doesn’t work.
      But I would agree that we should investigate and prosecute them according to principles of due process; otherwise we are no different than they.
      So, now this raises the question of, “HOW… and WHY?”
      A review of the Department of Homeland Security will answer both questions.
      By the act of Congress that established the DHS (http://redressone.wordpress.com/amss/) a system was created by which informers could make false allegations against anyone they please with near-total impunity. Of course, such informers aren’t described as informers; rather they are given the title “submitting person” and the DHS Act provided that their falsehoods will never be examined by any court or legislature or law enforcement agency. The legislation even specifies how this immunity is obtained. The “submitting person” only has to give an “express statement” that his lies were “voluntarily given” and that he expected “protection from disclosure”. It’s all there, in the act that created the DHS.
      I’m sorry guys, but silly season is over. Even if you own physical gold, live in a cabin in the woods along with a stash of ammo and AK-47’s, you lose. If you don’t fall to the horde of hungry homeless, you will fall to DHS death squads. All the homeless have to do is to wait until you collapse from lack of sleep (24, 48, 72 hours), then they march in, slit your throat and… let your imagination run wild.
      If you own stocks or bonds, guess what: you’re depending on criminal and useless classes to deliver your purchasing power at the moment of their greatest victory. Did I mention something about ‘silly season’?
      If you want to survive, you have to combine with others of like mind for the purpose of mutual protection, among other purposes. The big question now is, ‘HOW is this to be done?’ And the quick answer is, ‘You must establish First-Amendment assemblies – the only historically-proven method by which men have made their lives and property secure from rule by thieves.’ (http://redressone.wordpress.com/locate/)
      The American Revolution, for example, was powered by a large network of such assemblies: from town meetings, county meetings, state conventions and, ultimately, to Continental Congresses.
      Let’s be realistic: this solution won’t be easy or quick… unprecedented adventures never are.

  2. Nietzsche also said, “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”

    Brandon Bryant is a liar:

    Reply

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