Targeted Killing Strikes in the U.S., South and Central America, and Mexico
Predator drones have fired Hellfire missiles in America and the western hemisphere on six occasions according to a high ranking U.S. counterterrorism official speaking ON CONDITION OF ANONYMITY.
According to this official, five of the strikes were successful and the target was killed. The sixth strike hit the house and killed approximately 12 individuals, mostly women and children, but the person who was the identified target was not in the house when the missile hit. Officials are uncertain how many persons were actually killed, because the destruction of the house and everyone inside it was so thorough that there were no intact bodies to count.
Predator drones are built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. of San Diego, CA. The plane looks like a mosquito and has a 49-foot wingspan. Originally the Predator was configured for intelligence gathering, but after September 11, the Bush administration excalated the program and armed the planes with Hellfire missiles. Since that time missiles have been fired on at least 19 occasions in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Most recently a Hellfire was let loose in Pakistan, but the target, an al Qaeda leader, was not in the house when the missile hit, killing at least 18 women and children.
Communicating ON CONDITION OF ANONYMITY, the counterterrorism official stated that a suspected member of the Environmental Liberation Front was killed while driving in his car along a deserted road in rural Nevada near where he lived. The car was obliterated along with all human remains. "This guy's family still doesn't know what happened to him," the source reported.
In Mexico, according to the source, a Hellfire strike killed a union organizer who had irritated U.S. companies operating maquiladora factories just across the border. The organizer had been effective in creating unrest among the workers, and a work stoppage appeared imminent. The organizer's home was "vaporized" according to the source, and his wife and five children were killed as part of the collateral damage.
"I think that as the U.S. forces are stretched thinner and thinner, you're going to see more of these strikes in this hemisphere and in the U.S. itself," said the source. "In places like Bolivia where governments have been elected that are opposed to U.S. policies and the practices of the U.S. corporations, these strikes can effectively stop organization of mass movements by removing the leaders," the source explained. "The Death Squads have a limited effectivenss, and the politics cannot be controlled. These Predators can be operated from within the U.S. They are a powerful component of U.S. government policy."
