special Comment: Who does the quality control of analysis when the collection platform is also a weapon? The news leaks yesterday attributed to intelligence officials said three data points influenced the decision to shoot a missile at the residence of the father-in-law of Baitullah Mehsud. They form a syllogism.
Mehsud is a short man and a diabetic who likes to have his legs massaged (according to the news leak).
The drone detected a short man on the roof of the father-in-law?s house who was having a leg massage (according to the news leak).
The missile shooting establishes that the drone operator concluded the man on the roof was Baitullah Mehsud and did not care if he was wrong (inferences from the news leak data).
The problem is that hundreds of men fit the above description. The data barely creates a reasonable suspicion about the identity of the target. The operator might have consoled him or herself that it had to be someone connected to the Pakistani Taliban, whoever it was.
The only people confirmed dead are Mehsud?s wife and his driver. However, every short Pashtun man who enjoys getting a leg massage in a militant?s house in South Waziristan is a potential target, even if he is a postman.
That is targeting by profile, rather than intelligence analysis, and is very close to flagrant disregard for human life. Flagrant American disregard for Pakistani lives might help explain Pakistani anti-US sentiment.
Mehsud is a short man and a diabetic who likes to have his legs massaged (according to the news leak).
The drone detected a short man on the roof of the father-in-law?s house who was having a leg massage (according to the news leak).
The missile shooting establishes that the drone operator concluded the man on the roof was Baitullah Mehsud and did not care if he was wrong (inferences from the news leak data).
The problem is that hundreds of men fit the above description. The data barely creates a reasonable suspicion about the identity of the target. The operator might have consoled him or herself that it had to be someone connected to the Pakistani Taliban, whoever it was.
The only people confirmed dead are Mehsud?s wife and his driver. However, every short Pashtun man who enjoys getting a leg massage in a militant?s house in South Waziristan is a potential target, even if he is a postman.
That is targeting by profile, rather than intelligence analysis, and is very close to flagrant disregard for human life. Flagrant American disregard for Pakistani lives might help explain Pakistani anti-US sentiment.
