Watch the Drones: Pakistani terror.

• Author: Doherty, Brian
• Position: Citings - Brief article

The Obama administration claims its drone program, which uses missiles fired by unmanned aircraft to kill people in countries such as Pakistan and Yemen, allows precise targeting of terrorist threats. But a September 2012 study based on interviews with more than 100 people in affected areas of Pakistan concludes that the impact on civilians has been much more extensive than the U.S. government wants the public to believe.

According to the report, prepared by New York University's Global Justice Clinic and Stanford University's International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic, American drone strikes have directly killed nearly 900 noncombatants, including 176 children, and injured more than 1,200 since June 2004. But the impact goes beyond that. The report notes that the strikes make it difficult to live normal lives, free from the fear of sudden death from the...