Tweeting the US drone war

Dec 12

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Tweeting the US drone war

The Stream speaks to the creator of the @dronestream Twitter account.

Photo via EPA.

A 28-year-old student is exposing the covert US drone programme one tweet at a time. Josh Begley recently created the @dronestream Twitter account to track more than a decade’s worth of reported drone strikes by the US military, beginning with the first-known targeted killing in Yemen in 2002. The reported US drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia number approximately 399 to 495 strikes to-date, according to data from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

The Stream’s Malika Bilal spoke with Begley about why he started @dronestream:

View the story "Tweeting the US drone war" on StorifyTweeting the US drone warThe Stream speaks to the creator of the @dronestream Twitter account.Storified by The Stream · Wed, Dec 12 2012 11:44:14Interview with Josh Begley of @dronestreamajstreamA selection of tweets from @dronestream:Nov 3, 2002: In the first known US targeted assassination using a drone, a CIA Predator struck a car, killing 6 (Yemen) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/2402479.stmDronestreamJul 28, 2008: A strike on a seminary killed al Qaeda's chemical weapons team, plus 2 young boys & their mom (Pakistan) http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/29/world/fg-pakistan29DronestreamSep 2, 2008: No details are known about this strike, though it appears in a leaked US intelligence report (Pakistan) http://archives.dawn.com/archives/39900DronestreamJan 2, 2009: In the final strike of Bush's presidency, an attack on an abandoned girls' school killed 3-4 (Pakistan) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/08/AR2009010803110.htmlDronestreamFeb 24, 2010: 10-year-old Naila was at home reciting the Quran when the strike hit. She died on the spot (Pakistan) http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/10/obama-2010-strikes/DronestreamBegley notes that unreported drone attacks and strikes in Afghanistan are not included in @dronestream's tweets:Important to note: these are only the *known* (i.e. reported) US drone strikes. @Dronestream doesn't include anything in Afghanistan either.Josh BegleyBegley has also developed an iPhone app called Drones+ which gives users geo-located alerts and details of each new strike. However, Apple rejected the app multiple times for containing “objectionable and crude” content. The following video shows a demo of Drones+:Drones+ iPhone AppJosh BegleyAfter Apple rejected the app, Begley tweeted this from his personal account:In the 6 days since Apple rejected my Drones+ app, there have been 5 days of drone strikes in Yemen & Pakistan.Josh Begley Some feel the updates from @dronestream are disturbing yet necessary:The @dronestream is chilling - an effective use of Twitter but stomach turning none the less. Go see for yourself.Laura RohdeAmericans, it's your civic duty to follow @dronestream.tommy o'malleyGoing through @dronestream's timeline is chilling. Take a look for yourself.June PezzottiOthers have criticised what they see as a general acceptance of the US drone programme:If you objected noisily to Guantanamo Bay under Bush but not to the drone strikes under Obama, you're a fool.Sam BowmanIran develops nuclear capabilities, N. Korea sends up a satellite we become enraged, but US drone strikes, Israel drops bombs, we applaud?Ahmad A.