US Air Force Stops Reporting Data on Afghanistan Drone Strikes

By JG Vibes
Intellihub.com
March 12, 2013

Drone strikes have become extremely controversial, especially in recent weeks where the mainstream media was forced to admit that they actually exist. 
The US Air Force, which is responsible for carrying out these drone strikes has recently stopped reporting drone activity in Afghanistan, one of the areas that they are most active in.
Reuters reported that:
With debate intensifying in the United States over the use of drone aircraft, the U.S. military said on Sunday that it had removed data about air strikes carried out by unmanned planes in Afghanistan from its monthly air power summaries.U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Afghanistan war, said in a statement the data had been removed because it was “disproportionately focused” on the use of weapons by the remotely piloted aircraft as it was published only when strikes were carried out – which happened during only 3 percent of sorties….
The Air Force Times said air force chiefs had started posting the drone data last October in an attempt to provide more detail on the use of drones in Afghanistan.  The University of Missouri’s journalism school is the oldest in the country and now among the first to experiment with the new — and controversial – drone technology. NBC’s Thanh Truong reports.  The newspaper said the statistics were provided for November through January, but the February summary released on March 7 had a blank spot where the drone data had previously been listed.”
There has been a consistent effort for a very long time to keep details of these drone programs as secret as possible.  Just a few weeks ago former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs revealed in an interview on live television that when he became the Obama administration’s top spokesman, he was told not to discuss the government’s secret drone program or even acknowledge its existence.
“When I went through the process of becoming press secretary, one of the first things they told me was, ‘You’re not even to acknowledge the drone program. You’re not even to discuss that it exists,” said Gibbs, now an MSNBC contributor. That policy of secrecy, Gibbs said, made it difficult to deal with reporters asking about the program. Describing one such notable exchange in 2009 with Major Garrett, then of Fox News, Gibbs said, “I would get a question like that and literally I couldn’t tell you what Major asked, because once I figured out it was about the drone program, I realize I’m not supposed to talk about it.”
Gibbs added: “Here’s what’s inherently crazy about that proposition: you’re being asked a question based on reporting of a program that exists. So you’re the official government spokesperson acting as if the entire program…pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”
Another important thing to remember, as i have mentioned in the past, is that whenever the mainstream media releases a story about drone attacks, they typically use the word “militant” to describe the victims.  This label implies that the victims are not civilians or are somehow involved in terrorism or violent military activities.
However, this is not what they are actually saying, this is a deception.
Earlier this year the Obama Administration redefined “Militant” to mean “Military Aged Male”, so this way nearly any male who gets killed is considered a violent enemy, at least in the eyes of the general population.
The propaganda tactics are endless.
http://intellihub.com/2013/03/12/us-air-force-stops-reporting-data-on-afghanistan-drone-strikes/