While the mainstream media focuses on anything but the current state of U.S. intervention in the Middle East, the Trump Administration is breaking records by accumulating a horrific number of civilian deaths.
Former President Obama earned the nickname of “Drone King” when he dramatically escalated the use of drone strikes, while also downplaying the number of innocent civilians who became “collateral damage.” In the two years that his administration devoted to publicly spending millions of taxpayer dollars to fight the Islamic State group, the estimated civilian death toll ranged from 2,300 to 3,400, according to Airwars, an organization tracking deaths in the war against ISIS.
During @BarackObama‘s 29 months at helm of ISIS war we tracked 855 alleged civilian casualty events which likely killed 2298-3398 civilians pic.twitter.com/RUVvcy5zX9
— Airwars (@airwars) August 22, 2017
President Trump has been in office for just 9 months, and he has already surpassed Obama’s murderous record with estimated numbers as high as 4,500 civilian deaths.
Trump made headlines in December 2015, when he declared that if elected, he would not only kill members of ISIS—he would also “take out their families.” He is following through on that promise, according to a report from Steven Feldstein, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.
Feldstein noted that researchers have documented the rise of “frequent killing of entire families in likely coalition airstrikes” under the Trump Administration. This trend led to “the deaths of at least 57 women and 52 children in Iraq and Syria” in May.
While this may come as no surprise, considering the fact that Trump promised to “bomb the hell out of ISIS” while on the campaign trail, his administration’s offensive against the Islamic State is not the only ongoing war that is killing civilians.
According to a report from United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documenting civilian causalities during the first half of 2017, “aerial operations” led to a “43 percent increase in civilian casualties compared to the first six months of 2016, including a 67 percent increase in civilian deaths.”
While Trump bragged about giving military commanders “total authorization” to make combat decisions in Afghanistan, Washington Rep. Adam Smith said he believes that this move is contributing to the increase in civilian deaths.
“You really have the military making decisions that were designed to be made by the civilian authorities running the military,” Smith said. “We’ve seen an increase in civilian casualties. … I think they’ve become a little too indiscriminate in what they’re doing.”
The report from Feldstein noted that the Trump Administration has “substantially escalated air strikes and bombings” and the U.S. military “has already used 20 percent more missiles and bombs in combined air operations in 2017 than in all of 2016.”
The alarmingly high civilian death toll has continued to build up over the months. For example, from May 23 to June 23 of this year, at least 472 civilians were killed by U.S. airstrikes. That is significantly more than the 459 civilians who have been killed by terrorist attacks in Europe—in the last 12 years.
While the argument can be made that Trump is doing the same thing Hillary Clinton would have done if she was elected, the question has to asked as to how anyone can justify killing innocent civilians in the first place.
Obama surpassed Bush’s record, and now Trump has surpassed Obama’s record—but the only thing that has actually been “accomplished” is that thousands of innocent civilians have lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of civilians have lost their homes and their communities, and the civilians who do survive in the countries the United States is targeting now, will grow up hating America for destroying their home in the name of “Freedom.”
Rachel Blevins is a Texas-based journalist who aspires to break the left/right paradigm in media and politics by pursuing truth and questioning existing narratives. Follow Rachel on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This article first appeared at The Free Thought Project.
WTF TRUMP, END THE DRONE PROGRAM ASAP, PEOPLE ARE NOT A STATISTIC!!!!!!!!
what’s worse – hundreds (if not thousands) of young boys and girls instantly turned into piles of dust, or having a picture at home of a naked white kid?
According to government, YOU having a picture of a naked child is worse. However, it’s okay for government to HAVE a naked child at their service 24/7. I hope this clears it up for you.
I agree with the main points in the article, and it is an important topic. However, the headline and the point is flawed due to careless reading of the Airwars statement” “29 months at the helm of ISIS war” is not equal to 8 years of Obama leading the drone assassination program – Airwars was not around for all of that time either. So the overall civilian kill count under Obama is significantly higher, as is the implied rate of civilian casualties during his terms in office.
Maybe if Obama hadn’t extended the war of terror, Trump wouldn’t be murdering so many civilians.
Every time I hear about drones murdering civilians, I keep forgetting that Obama isn’t president.
Read some right wing websites and see how many people are okay with our country killing civilians in the Middle East. They say that people should fight back against terrorists. How asinine is this?
But these same people were surprised when 9/11 happened. Or any of the other attacks. How they can’t see the connection is beyond me.
Whether it’s Obama or Trump, it’s still the same people in charge.
How appropriate. The next article is about police using drones on us. How long until they get weaponized and used on us?
This serves us right for allowing the government to keep removing our civil rights.
Remember how many people said that they have nothing to hide so it’s okay for our government to spy on us?
The tsa should have been stopped in its tracks when it first went into effect.
Wars abroad always come home!
Fine, keep killing innocents, you fail against real men, but you are great at bombing hospitals… cool, you are getting yanks killed in mass shootings every single day, people killed in wild fires and hurricanes, your cities ruined and more in debt than ever.. ha ha fucktard yanks.
oh yes, the simple minded troll who cannot understand that a large population, such as the US, is comprised of millions of people who have different opinions and belief systems. Yes, the mind of the collective is a simple one. A mind unable to understand the complexities of life. Everything is simple for the simple minded such as yourself.
Moloch needs his blood.
Dude, I was shadow banned off IW. What a bunch of wusses.
Me to. All you have to do is download a free IP Blocking application and you can’t be blocked. I use one called X-VPN.
And we’re so sure these are innocent civilians? I cal BS!
What a coward. Not just physically, but morally and intellectually. You are not a human being, that would take work; for which you are to lazy to do. You are just a mindless beast.
I love how you imbeciles spew The sh@t you have for brains out of your mouths!
Feel better? Now you can go back to your call of duty video game and pretend you are a real man. At least as real as the game. You obviously have no real experience in this area, having opted to stay home, get fat and stay drunk on cheap beer, and occasionally chant whatever platitude your owner has given you to think is your own original thought. Oh the life of a degenerate slug. You can keep it.
You’re a sick in the head moron! If you had the clairvoyance you think you had you would be doing something productive with your life instead of sniveling like the little bi#ch you are. I’ll feel better when idiots like you no longer reproduce! Oh…wait…I’m sure your completely inadequate in that regard as well.
Oh
Oh yes, not being for bombing children is sick. What a warped little
mind you have. Wanting children to live without the fear of a drone
strike is hardly productive. While you believe that the exact opposite
is both noble and productive. Luckily for the world, you’ve been gorging
on GMOs and so are unable to reproduce, as you’ve GMOed your shriveled little testes. Me? Organic and fit. You? A fat slave.
If you’re stupid enough to believe what the MSM reports then that’s on you.
Further more, if you think your childish blathering and insults have any affect on me they don’t. Where did you get the idea that you or your opinions matters to me? Probably one of the may delusions you suffer from!
Would love to see you say anything to my face coward keyboard commando boy.
Tell us again how you hold the moral high ground for advocating the bombing of children. Those are your words. You call me a sick, purposeless individual because I don’t share that opinion. Please explain how murdering children makes you superior. And you wouldn’t want to see me in person. Unlike you, I am a man. I live in Lake City, Fl if you really wanted to see me. Of course, you’d have to get up from your World of Warcraft game to do so. What a loser;
You’re to stupid to understand what the MSM is doing. Yet somehow this is my fault? You’re a typical snowflake that cowers behind your keyboard and makes all these suppositions with no basis what so ever. You give yourself away due to your lack of intelligence.
I haven’t watched tv, or msm in over twenty years. I’m just saying you need to explain how wanting to murder children is taking the moral high ground. You don’t even know what’s going on over there. I’ve been there. You? Just playing tank games and thinking you are a war hero. My lack of intelligence? You are the one who claims killing children is great. Please explain that one. I’d really love to hear your tiny little brain try. C’mon, I need a good laugh and that’ll really do it. Do you also think it’s your mission on earth by god hisself to diddle little boys?
Jim, the mods here have removed the truth I discovered about the article.
Sorry pal. I’m right, you lose!
Congratulations. You have just won the award for the most infantile argument of the week on the entire web. By the way, please explain how calling for the murder of babies makes you morally superior. You, like all cowards, never can answer the most glaring deficiencies of your character. I bet you think you are clever, but you are merely another fat, impotent coward of no account. The world will be collectively smarter with your passing. Not to mention the higher moral plane.
It’s fake news moron boy. Too bad you’re to stupid to get it.
Well, aren’t you a special kind of stupid. If you could read and retain what was read, you’d know I don’t watch your tv propoganda. By the way, I love how you use the slogan given to you by your owner. And chanting it three times doesn’t make it an argument. It merely demonstrates your feeble-mindedness. I’ve been there, you obviously haven’t. How do I know this? Full-blown r#tards aren’t allowed in the army. Except for officers that is. Is there any aspect of you that isn’t reptilian? By the way, please explain how advocating the murder of children makes you morally superior? This certainly wasn’t in my copy of Sun Tzu.
Reptilian? I love this conversation Jimmy! You are so FU in the head you should be in a round room with rubber walls! The only way you could be any dumber is if you were bigger! I’m glad you think I have and create “tv propaganda” Just stating facts here Jimmy boy, something your comprehension level can’t compute.
How do you feel about abortion?
What’s the matter Jim? Don’t want to answer the question? Are you afraid your answer will expose your whole phony narrative?
Oh
I don’t live to respond to trolls. Unlike you, I have a life. Trolls are so simple.
See, the truth is coming to the surface here. There is no way out of the corner your backed into. With over 33,000,000 abortions this year you remain silent about that. That shows us your “moral superiority” LOL!
Jim, everything you have dreamed up about me is false. Just like your whole phony narrative and phony life.
As
You are too boring to keep wasting my time on. Good riddance and don’t forget to check in with your probation officer. You know how strict they are on child molestors.
I like how you never have anything of substance to say. Nor of anything remotely resembling any sense of morality. Not one fact spoken by your government troll #ss. A true armchair warrior, brave and cruel. As long as you don’t have any skin in the game, that is. And after eating all that junk food and drinking all that cheap beer, we know you have lots of skin.
I guess your talking about the children with beards and mustaches like the “children” illegally crossing out border, lol, your such a tool!
Ok Jimmy, researched this out a bit for you! FYI, these stats come from a liberal organization called “Air Wars”. They are largely funded by liberal activists including but not limited to “Open Society Foundation” Ring any bells there Sparky?
PS never played warcraft or any other stupid games you libbys play.
I’m to busy making money so losers like you can suck off the government tit. I actually pity you.
Considering that ISIS and sympathizers are the ragtag bunch of murderous delusional civilian scumbags underlying that number, sounds like progress to me.
And considering that we are funding them, giving them weapons, and even fighting with them in Syria; that makes it hypocrisy. Not to mention that you have the delusional concept of warfare that has caused the mass breeding of terrorists against us. People like you are why amerikans are hated the world over. Good job on being an enemy of liberty. The shallowness of your thinking is only matched by the depths of your depravity. I wonder how you would feel if your family were droned because of the actions of one of your cousins. Or not; I’m sure you would be whining then.
Who T.F. are you? What who ordained you the all knowing “expert?”
Like every war, the non-sympathizing civilians know where the battle lines are. They too need to choose a side to stay on. Maybe those staying abet the ISIS cult trash. YOU certainly don’t know!
Prove your wild-eyed claims, as to me they sound like exaggerated bullcrap.
Otherwise .. kiss my rosey-red, Skippy.
Oh, and based on your spelling of “America”, you sound like an unAmerican leftist, making anything you say entirely without credibility, and undeserving of a shred of respect. (On any subject.) .. FYI, America is the most respected and desired migration goal on the earth. Kiss the other cheek while you’re there.
You are an idiot. There are no front lines. You are a troll or just completely reta%ded. I’ve been to war. You have only played the games. Bite me. There is a reason I use a k. It’s because ret#rds like you have turned this country into a fascist nightmare devoid of liberty. And Amerika is now the most hated country in the world thanks to wusses like you. You believe whatever your owner tells you to believe. You are such a good little slave.
Quack Quack! U lying clueless Leftist
Fascists are leftists, you unAmerican ignoramous. Your “antifa” nitwits are a prime example of you goose stepping fascist ANTI-liberty and anti-rights leftists.
Do not pretend to be an expert on civilian slaughter when – not even counting military deaths – you leftist sacks are responsible for more death and human misery than all other human endeavors in mankind’s history, COMBINED!
Over 200,000,000 deaths in the 20th century alone, just in the pursuit of the advancement of your delusional, unworkable, anti-liberty Leftism. Just straight up, marching through the landscape, mass slaughter of innocents. You people are in no position to criticize ANYBODY!
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM
When your Muslim so-called “innocent civilians”, in any meaningful number, actually utter a syllable in opposition to your ISIS heros, you might then be able to legitimately call them “civilian casualties.” Still waiting after 16 frikkin years!
Presently though, your head is shoulders-deep up the butt of your high-horse!
What’s the matter mods? Afraid to post the truth about your article?
FAKE NEWS FAKE NEWS FAKE NEWS