Film about civilian deaths in drone strikes released

Published October 31, 2013
Filmmaker, Robert Greenwald, travelled to Pakistan to review the effects of US unmanned weapon and interviewed victims.
Filmmaker, Robert Greenwald, travelled to Pakistan to review the effects of US unmanned weapon and interviewed victims.

WASHINGTON: A film highlighting civilian deaths in US drone strikes was released in America on Wednesday, a day after drone survivors shared their tales with US lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

The film — “Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars” — also shows emotional protests against the strikes in cities across the world, from Islamabad to Johannesburg.

The filmmaker, Robert Greenwald, travelled to Pakistan to review the effects of US unmanned weapon that strikes from the sky and also interviewed some victims.

The film was released a week after two prominent rights groups — Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch –– reported that US drone attacks sometimes “killed civilians indiscriminately in clear violation of the laws of war”.

The reports also claimed that the drones “may (also) have targeted people who were not legitimate military objectives or caused disproportionate civilian deaths”.

The Amnesty report said the US may have committed war crimes and should stand trial for its actions.

The film begins with the story of Tariq Aziz, a 16-year-old soccer fan who attended an anti-drone conference in Islamabad in 2011 because he was concerned about the deaths in his area.

Seventy-two hours later, he was killed by a Hellfire missile fired from a US drone as he drove to pick up his aunt from a wedding. No explanation has been given for his death, other than an unproven assertion that he was a ‘terrorist’.

Mr Greenwald also narrated Tariq’s story at a congressional hearing on Tuesday, insisting that the victim was an innocent civilian who was killed because a drone could not distinguish between a civilian and a terrorist.

Opinion

Editorial

Maulana’s message
Updated 11 Mar, 2025

Maulana’s message

The problem now is that most jihadi fighters, ideologues refuse to end their "struggle" on advice of state or mainstream clerics.
President’s speech
11 Mar, 2025

President’s speech

PRESIDENT Asif Zardari, addressing Monday’s joint session of parliament to mark the start of a new parliamentary...
Indian takeover
11 Mar, 2025

Indian takeover

BY the time the Champions Trophy final ended, the only indicators that the tournament had been hosted by Pakistan...
Mosquito season
10 Mar, 2025

Mosquito season

AS temperatures rise, the threat of dengue looms large over Pakistan. Its warning signs have already arrived. Dengue...
Reckless rhetoric
10 Mar, 2025

Reckless rhetoric

ONCE again, the Indian leadership gave in to their worst impulses, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar...
Water scarcity
Updated 10 Mar, 2025

Water scarcity

The need to meet climate challenge is even greater when Pakistan is prone to multiple disastrous events at the same time.