Random Acts of Chaos

"[We] know, for instance, from the recent New York Times piece about the kill list, that the numbers that have been coming out have been jiggered with — that the White House fiddled with the numbers in a very specific way, by counting all males of military age who died in drone strikes as insurgent deaths. So, if you’re a 27-year-old who gets killed in a strike, it doesn’t matter if you just happen to be the baker and the target happened to be in your shop, you’re an insurgent in our figures. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism in London has counted, I think, up to 175 kids — this is in the Pakistani tribal areas — who have been killed by drone strikes. So we know something, but what we know is limited. What we know, which is probably more important, is that every area where drones are being used, things are getting worse."