A New Documentary Explores the Devastating Effects of Drone Warfare on Victims and Whistleblowers
Murtaza Hussain
On the night of February 21, 2010, a group of families driving a convoy of vehicles through the valleys of Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan, came into the sights of a Predator drone crew operating out of Creech Air Force Base in Nevada.
“That truck would make a beautiful target,” one of the operators says. The crew analyzes the convoy, debating whether children are present. “I really doubt that child call, man. I really fucking hate that shit.”
Under the watchful gaze of the drone crew, the families disembark from the convoy, stopping to pray at the side of the road. After a brief pause, they get back in their cars and continue their journey, still unaware that they are being stalked from above.
Members of the drone crew, satisfied they have a legitimate target in their sights, make the necessary preparations to use force.
As the cars trundle down the road, they open fire.
“And … oh … there it goes!” one of the pilots exclaims. The first car in the convoy, struck by a missile, disappears in a giant cloud of dust. Moments later, a second car explodes. People run out of the remaining vehicle, waving at the aircraft above to stop firing. They brandish pieces of cloth at the sky to try and indicate they are non-combatants. A woman can be seen holding a child.
“I don’t know about this,” one of the operators says. “This is weird.”
