Pakistani victims tell US lawmakers tale of drone attack (Grayson chaired this hearing)

[alp227]

Source: Al Jazeera America

Nine-year-old Nabila Rehman rested her head on the table.

Nabila, a shy girl with startling hazel eyes and red streaks in her dark hair, along with her father Rafiq and 13-year-old brother Zubair have told the story of the day when a drone fell from the sky in their village in North Waziristan so many times that by Tuesday morning the tale was rote — even if this particular retelling was before U.S. lawmakers, at a briefing which was the first opportunity for members of Congress to hear directly from Pakistani victims of American drones.

It was Oct. 24, 2012, the day before the Islamic holy day of Eid-al-Adha in North Waziristan. Zubair, Nabila, their little sister, five-year-old Asma and some of their cousins were all in the fields beside their house as their grandmother, 67-year-old Momina Bibi, showed them how to tell when the okra was ripe for picking.

Zubair knew the drones were circling overhead; he has known their distinctive buzzing since he was even younger — a methodical zung, zung, zung, he says.

Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/29/congressional-briefingonpakistanidronevictimsdraws5lawmakers.html

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Coverage of the hearing in US media:
Huffington Post, Why Did America Kill My Mother? Pakistani Drone Victim Comes To Congress For Answer
Rolling Stone, Individuals, Worlds Apart, United by the Trauma of Drone Strikes
Washington Post, From Pakistan, family comes to tell of drone strike’s toll
Orlando Sentinel, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson stages briefing to attack drone strikes (makes sense as this paper serves Grayson's district)
Nothing so far in the AP or New York Times.

Coverage of the hearing in international media:
UK/The Guardian, Pakistani family of drone strike victim gives harrowing testimony to Congress
UK/The Independent, Pakistani family give Congress an unprecedented account of effect of CIA drone attacks on their community
Associated Press of Pakistan (not related to the American Associated Press), Pakistani victim family urges end to drone warfare in Congressional briefing
Iran/Press TV, Pakistan victims of US drone attack brief Congress
Russia Today, Victims of drone strike testify before Congress
Pakistan/Dawn News, Drone strikes could end tomorrow if Pakistan wanted to: Grayson
Pakistan/The Nation, Fata family recounts drone horror before Congress

Recent news about the US/drone strikes:
Reuters (10/22), U.S. drone strikes killed Pakistani grandmother, laborers: Amnesty
Washington Post (10/23), Secret memos reveal explicit nature of U.S., Pakistan agreement on drones

[cosmicone]

1. Reminds me of the Kuwaiti Ambassador's daughter

telling about how Iraqis stole pediatric incubators from a hospital after discarding the infants they contained.

[idwiyo]

2. Do you mean grandma is actually alive and there was no drone strike?

[Comrade Grumpy]

15. Poster consistently bashes anyone and anything Pakistani. It's his thing.

[idwiyo]

16. Thought so. Thank you for confirmation. That post is really sick.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

3. In what way does it remind you of that?

[ReRe]

5. That was a lie cooked up by GHWB's PR people, no?

So what you're saying is that if GHWB cooked up the "babies in the incubators" story back in 1990, so we shouldn't believe these witnesses? This case was documented. I don't follow your thought process there...

[cosmicone]

7. It was tragic what happened to this family

and my heart goes out to them (assuming it is not a big Pakistani intelligence agency propaganda show.) In a perfect world, such tragedies should not occur. In a perfect world, 9/11, 7/11 or 26/11 shouldn't occur either.

I wish the US congress gave exposure to hundreds of families who have been far more hurt by terrorism coming from Pakistan in the US, UK, India and Afghanistan.

What happened to this family may have been from a misguided drone attack but there is great contributory culpability on the part of the Pakistani ISI, military and government who recruit, fund, arm and support terrorist outfits to cause mayhem in several countries.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. A moment ago you were implying their story was faked

But now that you've been condemned for that, you've suddenly remembered you're meant to show some compassion on DU, so you turn around and call it a 'tragedy', not a fake.

[idwiyo]

17. You should be ashamed of your post. There is no excuse.

[ReRe]

20. Misguided drones are a figment of YOUR imagination

Blowback, cosmicone. There is no "which came first, the chicken or the egg." Everyone knows who the first terrorist on this planet became just after WWII. You need to do what I did. Take an open mind to the library and do your own independent research. I'm sure you will arrive at the same conclusion I have.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. cosmicone is anti-Pakistan

and so assumes that any Pakistani is lying.

See, for instance, 'I love the drone strikes in Pakistan'. Or just do a site search for cosmicone and Pakistan.

[cosmicone]

10. I am not against Pakistan

I am against terrorist policies and acts of Pakistan.

A major difference don't you think?

I have actually visited Pakistan five times and have always been shown great hospitality. I actually stayed at the house of a journalist for Dawn named Ayaz Amir and his views were not different from mine. Is he anti-Pakistan too?

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. No, you have a bias against Pakistanis in general too

Your claim that this was fake is one example; or your claim that a Pakistani lesbian couple claiming asylum in the UK were straight, and just claiming it to get residency: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=493498

Or your other hidden posts supporting death by drone http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014360746 - "Pakistanis have been a menace and have been committing terrorist acts for decades" - it's just a blanket hatred of Pakistanis from you, really. Or 'the overwhelming majority of them': http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=9585

[cosmicone]

12. I am deeply touched.

No one ever took such obsessive interest in what I had to say before. :::: wipes tears ::::

Would it shock you to know that I am married to a beautiful Pakistani woman?

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Some of your best friends are Pakistanis?

No, that doesn't surprise me at all. It does nothing to dampen your obvious hatred of the vast majority of them.

[cosmicone]

14. Next time I want to know what I am thinking,

I'll be sure to ask you. You obviously know more about me than I do myself. Bravo.

[idwiyo]

18. Thank you for reminder about that thinly veiled homophobic and racist post.

Now his posts here make perfect sense

[ReRe]

21. He's been seriously bitten by the MIC bug

Maybe he manufactures drones for a living. Maybe he flies them. Maybe he's a military "Brat." (no disrespect, I mean son/daugh of military family.) He's got it bad, that's all I know.

[Ace Acme]

19. Are you suggesting that she's lying lies concocted by Hill and Knowlton?

If not, do you have a point other than to cast aspersions on the victim?

Oh, I get it. You think it's OK to murder grandmas because you think Pakistanis are evil people who have great contributory culpability on the part of the Pakistani ISI, military and government who recruit, fund, arm and support terrorist outfits .

So what about our military-industrial complex, and our Organized Crime military, and our criminal executive and legislative branches--and YOU, who support them in their funding, arming and supporting of terrorist operations in five countries? Somebody should bomb YOUR grandmother? Do you see how sick you sound?

[annm4peace]

4. video that we could see live that was on Rep Alan Grayson's website.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017155278

just incase you missed it. the 1st 50 seconds the sound wasn't working.

I think I'm going to send the list of news coverage to my Rep so he can see how the whole world knows, even if the US news was limited.

[marasinghe]

6. and this is exactly how much those shit-spawned scum in congress - care ....

.... or have even the modicum of decency required, to listen sympathetically to the child victims of their heroic war-games, designed to snuff out pathetic old ladies gathering food for dinner - like cockroaches under their fucking hooves.

Five - yes, exactly 5 - congress people, had the humanity to turn up at the hearing and listen to these kids talk about their Grandma's murder by the US Govt..

Published on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 by Common Dreams:

Congressional No-Show at 'Heart-Breaking' Drone Survivor Hearing

In "historic" briefing, Rehman family gives heartbreaking account of drone killing of 65-year-old grandmother... to five lawmakers

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/29-3

Thanks, Mr. Grayson; for trying to do the right thing. Too bad the majority of your colleagues belong on murderers' row.