PoliticsDaniel Hale , a former intel analyst, faces 11 years in prison for leaking docs on USdrone strikes .- Hale wrote an 11-page letter to the court explaining why he leaked the docs, offering gruesome details.
- "I came to believe that the policy of drone assassination was being used to mislead the public," Hale wrote.
"War is trauma."
Those are the words of Daniel Hale, a former US Air Force intelligence analyst who is facing up to 11 years in prison for leaking a trove of documents about the US drone program to a journalist from the Intercept.
Ahead of his sentencing, which is set for Tuesday, Hale wrote an emotionally raw letter with gruesome details about US drone strikes to explain to Judge Liam O'Grady why he leaked the documents and violated the Espionage Act.
In the 11-page, handwritten letter that was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Hale offered details on what he described as "the most harrowing day of my life" that took place months into his deployment in Afghanistan.
Hale said it was "a routine surveillance mission turned into disaster."
It was back in 2012, and Hale found himself watching a car being driven by a suspected bomb-maker from Jalalabad head toward Pakistan. Hale's superiors were "alarmed" and feared that the suspect was trying to escape across the border, prompting the car to be targeted with a drone strike.
"It was a windy and clouded afternoon when one of the suspects had been discovered heading east at a high rate of speed," Hale wrote. "A drone strike was our only chance and already it began lining up to take the shot."
But the payload missed the target, and the car "continued on ahead after narrowly avoiding destruction" before stopping. A man emerged and looked shocked he was still alive. To Hale's surprise, a woman also stepped out and rushed to the trunk.
Hale would later learn the woman was the man's wife and she was checking on their two young children who had been in the back. Afghan soldiers found the children - ages three and five - in a nearby dumpster the next day.
"The eldest was found dead due to unspecified wounds caused by shrapnel that pierced her body. Her younger sister was alive but severely dehydrated," Hale said, going on to describe his distress over his commanding officer being more disgusted with the children being left in the dumpster than with the fact they had "errantly fired on a man and his family, having killed one of his daughters."
"Whenever I encounter an individual who thinks that drone warfare is justified and reliably keeps America safe, I remember that time and ask myself how I could possibly continue to believe that I am a good person, deserving of my life and the right to pursue happiness," Hale went on to say.
The letter provides details on other drone strikes Hale witnessed, including one that occurred within days of his arrival to Afghanistan. In this instance, a group of men carrying weapons gathered to drink tea. Among them was a suspected member of the Taliban, which Hale said was "enough evidence to place them under suspicion as well."
"Despite having peacefully assembled, posing no threat, the fate of the now tea drinking men had all but been fulfilled," Hale wrote. "I could only look on as I sat by and watched through a computer monitor when a sudden, terrifying flurry of Hellfire missiles came crashing down, splattering purple-colored crystal guts on the side of the morning mountain."
Hale went on to write about how his experiences were at odds with President Barack Obama's public assurances that drone strikes helped protect the US and that all steps were being taken to prevent civilian casualties.
"I came to believe that the policy of drone assassination was being used to mislead the public that it keep[s] us safe, and when I finally left the military, still processing ... I began to speak out, believing my participation in the drone program to have been deeply wrong," Hale said.
Prosecutors have called for Hale to spend 11 years behind bars for leaking documents on the US drone program, contending that "vanity overrode the commitments he made to his country," per the Washington Post. Hale pleaded guilty in March. But Hale and his lawyers have called for no more than 12 to 18 months, stating that he leaked the documents due to "irreconcilable moral conflict."
The US drone war has been going on for almost 20 years
The use of
By the time Obama came into office, the US public was war-weary and the prospect of sending troops into dangerous places had become increasingly unpopular. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, offered an ostensible solution. They allowed the US to surveil and target suspected terrorists without putting US troops in harm's way.
Critics of the drone program have contended that it kills too many civilians, excoriating the US government's dubious legal and ethical justifications for drone strikes. Similar to strikes described by Hale, the US has conducted what are known as "signature strikes" - strikes that target military-aged men on battlefields without full confirmation they were plotting against the US or posed a significant threat.
There are also critics and scholars who've made the case that US drone strikes serve as a recruiting poster for terrorism by increasing enmity toward America. In 2010, a man named Faisal Shahzad was arrested for attempting to bomb Times Square - and he cited US drone strikes as his motivation.
The US government has consistently faced criticism over a lack of transparency surrounding drone strikes - particularly in relation to civilian casualties. Many strikes have occurred in remote, dangerous areas, making it difficult for journalists or independent organizations to verify details. Official reports on civilian casualties from the US government tend to run far lower than those from independent observers.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a UK-based organization that has tracked US drone strikes for years, estimates that between 8,858 and 16,901 people have been killed by US drone strikes and other covert operations since 2004 in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Afghanistan - including up to 2,200 civilians.
Obama responded to criticism of US drone strikes by pledging greater transparency and putting safeguards in place to protect civilians, signing an executive order in July 2016 along those lines. The Trump administration abandoned many of those changes, showing less concern for civilian casualties.
Under President Joe Biden, who pledged to end "forever wars," the US has cut back on drone strikes in a massive way compared to past administrations. This has occurred as the administration reviews standards for military and covert operations.