Predators: The CIA's Drone War on al Qaeda

by Brian Glyn Williams

Overview

"Predators" is a riveting introduction to the murky world of Predator and Reaper drones, the CIA's and U.S. military's most effective and controversial killing tools. Brian Glyn Williams combines policy analysis with the human drama of the spies, terrorists, insurgents, and innocent tribal peoples who have been killed in the covert operation--the CIA's largest assassination campaign since the Vietnam War era--being waged in Pakistan's tribal regions via remote control aircraft known as drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles. Having traveled extensively in the Pashtun tribal areas while working for the U.S. military and the CIA, Williams explores in detail the new technology of airborne assassinations. From miniature Scorpion missiles designed to kill terrorists while avoiding civilian "collateral damage" to "prathrais," the cigarette lighter-size homing beacons spies plant on their unsuspecting targets to direct drone missiles to them, the author describes the drone arsenal in full. Evaluating the ethics of targeted killings and drone technology, Williams covers more than a hundred drone strikes, analyzing the number of slain civilians versus the number of terrorists killed to address the claims of antidrone activists. In examining the future of drone warfare, he reveals that the U.S. military is already building more unmanned than manned aerial vehicles. Predators helps us weigh the pros and cons of the drone program so that we can decide whether it is a vital strategic asset, a "frenemy," or a little of both.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612346175
Publisher:	Potomac Books
Publication date:	07/01/2013
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

BRIAN GLYN WILLIAMS earned his first master s at the Central Eurasian studies program at Indiana University and a second master s in Russian history and a PhD in Central Asian history from the University of Wisconsin. Among his published works are Afghanistan Declassified: A Guide to America s Longest War (2011) and the upcoming The Last Warlord: The Life and Legend of Dostum, the Afghan Warrior Who Led US Special Forces to Topple the Taliban Regime (2013). A tenured professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, he lives in Boston.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xiii

1 The Death of a Terrorist 1

2 A History of the Pashtun Tribal Lands of Pakistan 11

3 Enter the Predator 19

4 Operation Enduring Freedom 27

5 Manhunt 39

6 The Drone War Begins 65

7 Who Is Being Killed in the Drone Strikes? 89

8 Spies, Lawyers, Terrorists, and Secret Bases 121

9 The Argument for Drones 169

10 The Argument against Drones 205

11 The Future of Killer Drones 229

Appendix: Drone Specifications 239

Notes 241

Selected Bibliography 273

Index 277

About the Author 281

Editorial Reviews

"Predators is an insightful and intriguing introduction to the new war against Al Qaeda."—Bruce Riedel, Brookings Institute, former CIA analyst and special assistant to President Obama on terrorism in Pakistan

Bruce Riedel

"Predators: The CIA's Drone War on al Qaeda is a sober reflection on how the CIA's drone assassination campaigns in Pakistan and Yemen have reduced the chance of terror attacks but radicalized survivors and killed civilians in the process."—Will Hodgkinson, Times (London)

Times (London) - Will Hodgkinson

"Predators: The CIA's Drone War on al Qaeda, the newest book by Dr. Brian Glyn Williams of the University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth, treats the topic with the care it deserves. Over the course of the book's 11 chapters, Williams takes an even-handed approach, providing invaluable history and context to frame the arguments both in favor of and against current US drone policy."—Evan Kalikow, Small Wars Journal

Small Wars Journal - Evan Kalikow

“Finally a book that dispassionately shows the facts and impact on this new technology. A must read for anyone interested in the evolution of warfare.”—Dr. Marc Sageman, former CIA field officer liaison to the Afghan mujahideen and author of Understanding Terrorist Networks

Dr. Marc Sageman

"Williams concedes collateral damage, but says drones are "not clumsily killing mass numbers of civilians." In fact, the technology is getting smarter and smarter: The non-military fatality rate "has plummeted" since 2004 to the point where it's now close to zero."—Katharine Whittemore, Boston Globe

Boston Globe - Katharine Whittemore

"Predators is recommended reading to those interested in how US counterterrorism efforts in Pakistan and elsewhere have affected civilian populations living in the targeted countries. Williams studies the impact of the missile strikes by US drones in remote regions of the world, in particular in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)."—Ulrike Esther Franke, Parameters

Parameters - Ulrike Esther Franke

"Predators is an insightful and intriguing introduction to the new war against Al Qaeda."—Bruce Riedel, Brookings Institute, former CIA analyst and special assistant to President Obama on terrorism in Pakistan

“Finally a book that dispassionately shows the facts and impact on this new technology. A must read for anyone interested in the evolution of warfare.”—Dr. Marc Sageman, former CIA field officer liaison to the Afghan mujahideen and author of Understanding Terrorist Networks

"Brian Glyn Williams succeeds in the near impossible task of providing both the most damming indictment of drones in modern warfare and a glowing endorsement of them. Never before has such a meticulous and indispensable history of drone warfare been presented. Predators is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to better understand the contentious lethal legacy of drones in America’s Global War on Terrorism."—Matthew C. DuPée, U.S. Department of Defense Analyst for South Asia

From the Publisher