[View the story "Tweeting the US drone war" on Storify ]Tweeting the US drone war The Stream speaks to the creator of the @dronestream Twitter account. Storified by The Stream · Wed, Dec 12 2012 11:44:14
Interview with Josh Begley of @dronestreamajstream
A selection of tweets from @dronestream:
Nov 3, 2002: In the first known US targeted assassination using a drone, a CIA Predator struck a car, killing 6 (Yemen) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/2402479.stmDronestream
Jul 28, 2008: A strike on a seminary killed al Qaeda's chemical weapons team, plus 2 young boys & their mom (Pakistan) http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/29/world/fg-pakistan29Dronestream
Sep 2, 2008: No details are known about this strike, though it appears in a leaked US intelligence report (Pakistan) http://archives.dawn.com/archives/39900Dronestream
Jan 2, 2009: In the final strike of Bush's presidency, an attack on an abandoned girls' school killed 3-4 (Pakistan) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/08/AR2009010803110.htmlDronestream
Feb 24, 2010: 10-year-old Naila was at home reciting the Quran when the strike hit. She died on the spot (Pakistan) http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/10/obama-2010-strikes/Dronestream
Begley notes that unreported drone attacks and strikes in Afghanistan are not included in @dronestream's tweets:
Important to note: these are only the *known* (i.e. reported) US drone strikes. @Dronestream doesn't include anything in Afghanistan either.Josh Begley
Begley has also developed an iPhone app called Drones+ which gives users geo-located alerts and details of each new strike. However, Apple rejected the app multiple times for containing “objectionable and crude” content. The following video shows a demo of Drones+:
Drones+ iPhone AppJosh Begley
After Apple rejected the app, Begley tweeted this from his personal account:
In the 6 days since Apple rejected my Drones+ app, there have been 5 days of drone strikes in Yemen & Pakistan.Josh Begley
Some feel the updates from @dronestream are disturbing yet necessary:
The @dronestream is chilling - an effective use of Twitter but stomach turning none the less. Go see for yourself.Laura Rohde
Americans, it's your civic duty to follow @dronestream.tommy o'malley
Going through @dronestream's timeline is chilling. Take a look for yourself.June Pezzotti
Others have criticised what they see as a general acceptance of the US drone programme:
If you objected noisily to Guantanamo Bay under Bush but not to the drone strikes under Obama, you're a fool.Sam Bowman
Iran develops nuclear capabilities, N. Korea sends up a satellite we become enraged, but US drone strikes, Israel drops bombs, we applaud?Ahmad A.
