The “Main Street Media” has not reported a single civilian death attributed to strikes ordered by the Obama administration in sharp contrast to prior drone attacks carried out by the Bush administration where descriptions of the deaths of women, children and elderly civilians are heaped upon the readers.
Obama administration:
March 13, 2009 – Yahoo news
24 killed - "We have handed over 24 bodies after cleaning and wrapping them in cloth," Saidur Rehman, an official of the local charity Al-Khidmat Foundation, told AFP.Local administration officials also confirmed that 24 bodies were recovered from the rubble having earlier said that 18 dead had been found."
February 16, 2009 – Boston.com
25 killed – ‘The attack was the first in the Kurram tribal region and came two days after a missile strike in the South Waziristan tribal region killed at least 25 mostly Central Asian fighters believed to have al Qaeda links”“Kurram's top administrator, Arshad Majeed Mohmand, confirmed the strike and said according to his information three missiles were fired, but he had no details about the casualties.”
January 23, 2009 – Breitbart news
7 killed – “One drone fired three missiles into the village of Zharki in North Waziristan, hitting two buildings, the intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. At least seven people were killed, but there identities were not immediately known.”
March 14, 2009 – NY Times
31 killed - "Three missiles thought to have been fired from remotely piloted American aircraft struck a Taliban training camp in the Kurram area of northwestern Pakistan late on Thursday and killed 21 militants, according to a local government official and news reports on Friday.Nine other people were wounded in the strike at around 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., directed at a training camp some 20 miles from Parachinar, the capital of the remote tribal area where 31 people were killed in a similar attack on Feb. 16., according to the official, who spoke in return for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters."
Bush administration:
September 14, 2008 – Breitbart News
10 killed – "Two white drones circled the area for hours ahead of the attack that left 21 people dead, including women and children, residents told AFP. "We recovered 10 bodies. Some were mutilated, some charred. We could not identify if the victims were locals or foreigners. But we could distinguish that children were among the dead," Khan said."
October 2008 – NY Times NY Times
On Oct. 16, "a Predator strike in South Waziristan killed Khalid Habib, a senior Qaeda operative. But the strikes sometimes have unintended consequences. On Sept. 8, one in Miranshah on a compound owned by a Taliban leader, Jalaluddin Haqqani, failed to kill him but did kill women and children. On Aug. 27, a Predator strike near the village of Wana missed its target; it is unclear whether civilians were killed.”
It appears that the news agencies cannot find one “eyewitness who is authorized to speak about news on the ground” whereas they had no trouble finding someone to speak about civilian “collateral damage” in the past. Who would of thunk!
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