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“We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

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231–240 of 276 posts

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#231
post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, that sounds like a great idea. But, it needs to be a two way street. Convince terrorists planning terror attacks to not murder people on the other side of the world, then I'm sure America would drastically cut down on the number of people it killed on the other side of the world. > what would you do if Russia, lawfully (according to Russian laws) executed people in US? Because that’s exactly what US is doing to…

Number of victims of terrorist attacks on the other side of the world is orders of magnitude lower than number of victims of American invasions. Even 9/11 was a minor episode compared to the invasion it served as an excuse for. Essentially, you’re assuming US are always the good guys. And the easiest way to explain this is the foundation of all US politics: racism. Having said that, US _arr_ the good guys at the mome…

Is the US racist against all the Yemeni people and government who also wanted him dead?

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#232
post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about simply not murdering people on the other side of the world? Here’s a mental experiment for you: what would you do if Russia, lawfully (according to Russian laws) executed people in US? Because that’s exactly what US is doing to the rest of the world.

Well, that sounds like a great idea. But, it needs to be a two way street. Convince terrorists planning terror attacks to not murder people on the other side of the world, then I'm sure America would drastically cut down on the number of people it killed on the other side of the world. > what would you do if Russia, lawfully (according to Russian laws) executed people in US? Because that’s exactly what US is doing to…

Just to be clear, he wasn't "planning terrorist attacks". He was a propagandist.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha, it almost seems like you're saying that since the US doesn't keep good track of how many civilians they've murdered with "signature strikes", no one can claim that "lots of innocent people are dying". Even when many reports and groups say that lots of innocent people are dying, including the article you're quoting. That would by psychotic though, so I'm surely misinterpreting what your actual point is. Care to cl…

Quantify how many "lots" are. The parent said the CIA killed "lots" of the wrong people. That is really the only word I take issue with.

"uncountably high"

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#234
post #164
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many Americans died from terrorism? How many foreigners died from anti-terrorism drone strikes?

These are actually easy things to look up. 910-2,200 civilians killed by drone strikes[1]. More than that were killed on 9/11 alone [2]. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_from_U.S._... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

From your first link: The "estimates of civilian casualties are hampered methodologically and practically";[5] civilian casualty estimates "are largely compiled by interpreting news reports relying on anonymous officials or accounts from local media, whose credibility may vary."

So let's not speak with too much certainty. Drone operators have harrowing stories of false positives that were never reported as such. A false positive is a strike on civilians.

The Unseen Scars of Those Who Kill Via Remote Control https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/us/drones-airstrikes-ptsd...

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#236
post #8

"Signature strikes" -- the target has a signature (movement, data, use of a satellite phone or specific cellular number, entourage, etc) that matches that of an HVT (high value taget) that is authorized for termination by drone strike. The CIA has killed lots of the wrong people because "signature strikes" don't require second source intelligence to verify who the target is (eg: is the person using the satellite phon…

You think only America does this? All countries do it if they have the spy capabilities of doing it.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#237
post #37
post #8

"Signature strikes" -- the target has a signature (movement, data, use of a satellite phone or specific cellular number, entourage, etc) that matches that of an HVT (high value taget) that is authorized for termination by drone strike. The CIA has killed lots of the wrong people because "signature strikes" don't require second source intelligence to verify who the target is (eg: is the person using the satellite phon…

Don’t forget American citizens are on the table too, no due process required! EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_al-Awlaki Thank you Jaywalk for the correct link

If you're in a foreign country aiding what is essentially a terrorist group or directly fighting for them on the front lines, why do you expect they would get due process?

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The has CIA tortured US citizens, destroyed the evidence and got away with it, I doubt anything will happen.

>I doubt anything will happen The last president who seemingly took issue with these powers was conveniently assassinated. His successor (and the successor's allies) wasted no time in appeasing those powers by beginning lots of wars that killed and destroyed the lives of many people. I too doubt anything will happen. At the risk of starting a Chomsky flame war and for anyone curious about what happened in those wars,…

Yeah I don't believe these "the CIA killed JFK" conspiracy theories. Y'all have had decades and decades to prove it.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#239
post #234
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are actually easy things to look up. 910-2,200 civilians killed by drone strikes[1]. More than that were killed on 9/11 alone [2]. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_from_U.S._... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

From your first link: The "estimates of civilian casualties are hampered methodologically and practically";[5] civilian casualty estimates "are largely compiled by interpreting news reports relying on anonymous officials or accounts from local media, whose credibility may vary." So let's not speak with too much certainty. Drone operators have harrowing stories of false positives that were never reported as such. A fa…

Sure, there's plenty of uncertainty. But there are also far more casualties of 9/11 than the immediate ones. Tons of people got cancer and died, or were seriously disabled, etc. Drone strikes had some similar collateral damage too, I imagine, but certainly not on the scale of 9/11.

Re: “We kill people based on metadata” and other metadata things

#240
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty similar to the appeals process for being killed by the terrorist that the CIA chose not to assassinate.

So for you the CIA has the same moral requirements than terrorists groups? That line of reasoning ends up to the conclusion that CIA's assassination is just state sponsored terrorism, and I'm not sure that's the argument you are willing to make.

I didn't say that, nor did I bring up the casualties comparison. The person I was responding to asked what the relative casualty counts were.
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