New NSA Revelation: U.S. Drone Strikes Kill Innocents By Targeting NSA Phone Data

The Intercept’s editors are Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill. Photograph: /Public domain

The NSA’s Secret Role in the U.S. Assassination Program -- The Intercept

The National Security Agency is using complex analysis of electronic surveillance, rather than human intelligence, as the primary method to locate targets for lethal drone strikes – an unreliable tactic that results in the deaths of innocent or unidentified people.

According to a former drone operator for the military’s Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) who also worked with the NSA, the agency often identifies targets based on controversial metadata analysis and cell-phone tracking technologies. Rather than confirming a target’s identity with operatives or informants on the ground, the CIA or the U.S. military then orders a strike based on the activity and location of the mobile phone a person is believed to be using.

The drone operator, who agreed to discuss the top-secret programs on the condition of anonymity, was a member of JSOC’s High Value Targeting task force, which is charged with identifying, capturing or killing terrorist suspects in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

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More News On Reports That U.S. Drone Strikes Kill Innocents By Targeting NSA Phone Data

Glenn Greenwald's new website launches with fresh NSA revelations -- The Guardian
Use of NSA metadata to find drone targets kills civilians – Greenwald -- RT
NSA 'drone strikes based on mobile phone data' -- The Independent
Report: NSA Relies on Unreliable Phone Data for Drone Strikes -- Gizmodo
Drone strikes kill innocents by targeting NSA phone data, not people: Greenwald -- The verge
Glenn Greenwald's New Site Goes Live With NSA Allegations -- Mashable
Latest Snowden Revelations: NSA Surveillance Key to Targeted Killings -- Newsmax