Anti-Drone Activist Disappeared for Revealing CIA Terrorism

[georgephillip]

"A Pakistani campaigner who sued the CIA after his brother and son were killed in a drone strike, has been detained by armed men just days before he was due to travel to Britain to talk to MPs about the controversial programme.

"Kareem Khan, who launched his legal action in 2010, has not been seen since up to 20 armed men stormed into his home in Rawalpindi on the night of 4 February.

"His family said the men, some of whom wore the uniform of the Punjab Police, said nothing about who they were or why Mr Khan was being detained."

Anti-drone activist Kareem Khan seized by armed men in Pakistan - Asia - World - The Independent

Mr Khan's brother and son were both government employees at the time of their murder.

Local media reported at the time the object of the strike was Haj Omar, a Taliban commander who was not in the family home at the time of the strike.

One possible explanation for the confusion is provided by Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahill at their new site The Intercept

"The National Security Agency is using complex analysis of electronic surveillance, rather than human intelligence, as the primary method to locate targets for lethal drone strikes – an unreliable tactic that results in the deaths of innocent or unidentified people.

"According to a former drone operator for the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) who also worked with the NSA, the agency often identifies targets based on controversial metadata analysis and cell-phone tracking technologies.

"Rather than confirming a target’s identity with operatives or informants on the ground, the CIA or the U.S. military then orders a strike based on the activity and location of the mobile phone a person is believed to be using."

Are you willing to bet the lives of your brothers and sons this same level of terrorism won't come home to roost in the US?

 

[Freewill]

Of course this wouldn't piss of those in the ME like showing a picture of a dead OBL would....right.

 

[georgephillip]

Of course this wouldn't piss of those in the ME like showing a picture of a dead OBL would....right.

I guess.
Watching innocent family members blown apart by Hellfire missiles would be at least as annoying to some in the ME as seeing OBL's freshly washed corpse on the front page of their local daily.
Rising concern in Pakistan over US drone strikes is beginning to bleed into some US allies across the pond:

"The CIA drone programme is hugely controversial in Pakistan, where many see it as an infringement of sovereignty..."

"For British MPs, the issue has taken on fresh significance after it emerged that intelligence operatives at GCHQ have been providing targeting information to their US counterparts.

"Last month it was reported that senior lawyers told MPs that if intelligence was passed on and subsequently used in a drone strike that targeted a non-combatant, the implications were very serious.

“'An individual involved in passing that information is likely to be an accessory to murder...'"

Anti-drone activist Kareem Khan seized by armed men in Pakistan - Asia - World - The Independent

 

[georgephillip]

"Kareem Khan, who launched his legal action in 2010, has not been seen since up to 20 armed men stormed into his home in Rawalpindi on the night of 4 February. His family said the men, some of whom wore the uniform of the Punjab Police, said nothing about who they were or why Mr Khan was being detained.

"The campaigner launched a criminal action against the CIA station chief in Pakistan and a civil claim for $500m in damages, after his relatives were killed in North Waziristan, the tribal area from where he comes.

"At the weekend, Mr Khan was due to travel to Europe where he was to talk to parliamentarians from Britain, Germany and the Netherlands about the impact of drone strikes."

Anti-drone activist Kareem Khan seized by armed men in Pakistan - Asia - World - The Independent