On Sunday's World News on ABC, correspondent Nick Schifrin filed a report recounting complaints by Pakistanis that CIA drone attacks that have successfully killed high-profile terrorist figures residing in Pakistan have also resulted in civilian deaths and injuries.
With the words "A Young Man's Plea" displayed on screen next to him, anchor David Muir introduced the piece:
Overseas tonight, a growing debate over drones. They have been hugely successful in remote, dangerous regions, racking up a long list of terror takedowns. But tonight here, who else have they taken out? Nick Schifrin from Pakistan on a teenager who spoke out trying to stop the drones because of the innocent lives he says have been lost. And then he was accidentally killed by a drone just days later.
After beginning the report by relating National Security Advisor John Brennan's contention that the activities of CIA drones have so far not resulted in any civilian deaths, Schifin highlighted claims of one boy being injured by an attack. Schifrin:
But Sada Ullah would disagree. He says he was 14 when a CIA missile hit his home. He lost his legs and his eye and something more. "I had a dream to be a doctor," he says. "But now I can't even walk to school."
After the ABC correspondent passed on accounts of a teenager who was supposedly killed in a drone attack after he took part in an anti-drone conference, Schifrin focused on the liberal activist who organized the conference:
NICK SCHIFRIN: Clive Stafford Smith organized that conference, and now is taking the CIA to court.
CLIVE STAFFORD SMITH, AUTHOR OF REPRIEVE: Until we get the people of the United States and the West to see the dead children of Pakistan the same way we'd see our own dead children, we're not going to win this battle.
The ABC correspondent concluded:
Many in Pakistan share that anger. But the U.S. is unlikely to listen. Washington is convinced these unmanned, hunter-killers are their best, and only, weapon along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Below is a complete transcript of the report from the Sunday, November 6, World News on ABC:
DAVID MUIR: Overseas tonight, a growing debate over drones. They have been hugely successful in remote, dangerous regions, racking up a long list of terror takedowns. But tonight here, who else have they taken out? Nick Schifrin from Pakistan on a teenager who spoke out trying to stop the drones because of the innocent lives he says have been lost. And then he was accidentally killed by a drone just days later.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Every day inside Pakistan the CIA hunts and kills. U.S. officials say remote-controlled drones are highly accurate. They've killed more than a dozen of the world's most wanted terrorists without any mistakes.
JOHN BRENNAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: In the past year, there hasn't been any single collateral death.
SCHIFRIN: But Sada Ullah would disagree. He says he was 14 when a CIA missile hit his home. He lost his legs and his eye and something more. "I had a dream to be a doctor," he says. "But now I can't even walk to school."
A lot of people in Pakistan who oppose these drone strikes, including political parties who hold rallies in Islamabad, they say that the strikes kill civilians and increase violence in Pakistan. Civilians like 16-year-old Tariq. Just 10 days ago, he attended an anti-drone conference. He was scared to go back home, where drones fly above his house every day. But he did go home. And three days later, he was killed by the very drones he protested against. Clive Stafford Smith organized that conference, and now is taking the CIA to court.
CLIVE STAFFORD SMITH, AUTHOR OF REPRIEVE: Until we get the people of the United States and the West to see the dead children of Pakistan the same way we'd see our own dead children, we're not going to win this battle.
SCHIFRIN: Many in Pakistan share that anger. But the U.S. is unlikely to listen. Washington is convinced these unmanned, hunter-killers are their best, and only, weapon along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Nick Schifrin, ABC News, Islamabad.
-Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center