By — P. J. Tobia P. J. Tobia Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/inside-story-predator-drones Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The inside story of predator drones World Oct 29, 2015 3:36 PM EDT The predator drone, with its distinctive oblong head and inverted V-shaped tail, has become a sort of mascot for the U.S. global war on terror. » Subscribe in iTunes » Subscribe using RSS But that wasn’t always the case. Lt. Col. T. Mark McCurley spent more than a decade flying drones and commanding a squad of drone pilots. In this week’s episode of NewsHour’s Shortwave podcast, he describes the program in its early days as “a dumping ground for bad pilots.” He also tells us how that perception has radically changed over the last decade. We also hear from Naureen Shah of Amnesty International. She says too many innocent people are killed with drones and the U.S. military isn’t transparent enough with it targets. P.J. Tobia reports on the history and controversy of this weapon. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — P. J. Tobia P. J. Tobia P.J. Tobia is a Foreign Affairs Producer at PBS NewsHour, covering the Middle East and North Africa. He is also the host and producer of the foreign affairs podcast "Shortwave." Prior to this Tobia spent two years in Afghanistan covering Afghan politics, life and the U.S.-led war. @PJTobia
The predator drone, with its distinctive oblong head and inverted V-shaped tail, has become a sort of mascot for the U.S. global war on terror. » Subscribe in iTunes » Subscribe using RSS But that wasn’t always the case. Lt. Col. T. Mark McCurley spent more than a decade flying drones and commanding a squad of drone pilots. In this week’s episode of NewsHour’s Shortwave podcast, he describes the program in its early days as “a dumping ground for bad pilots.” He also tells us how that perception has radically changed over the last decade. We also hear from Naureen Shah of Amnesty International. She says too many innocent people are killed with drones and the U.S. military isn’t transparent enough with it targets. P.J. Tobia reports on the history and controversy of this weapon. We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now