What's incredible about it is we don't know the standards being used to target people in those night raids, but the President doesn't sign off on everyone of those. These task forces from the military are already empowered to take out people that they determine to be making improvises explosive devices, or are the leadership of Taliban, or the Haqqani Network. I think so much killing is going on, that we've killed our way so far down the list that we don't even know who we're killing anymore; or, people are being targeted for fighting the Americans simply because we're in their valley. And that's a classic no-no in counterinsurgency 101: when you are the force that is actually creating the uprising, then you really have to rethink your policy.
Rob Kall: OK. And one of the people in the movie literally says that after his wife and niece and sister were killed, that he was ready to put on one of those vests and blow himself up as a Jihadist. That's the kind of blowback we're talking about here. I want to ask you: near the end of your movie you say, "I didn't realize how much the journey would change me."
Jeremy Scahill: Yeah.
Rob Kall: How did it change you?
Jeremy Scahill: First, Rob - I heard over the course of not just the years of working on this story, but over fifteen years or so of working in journalism of this sort, I've heard in multiple languages in various countries some version of the same sentiment, and that is:
"When you killed my loved one,"
or, "You blew up my village,"
or, "When you did this night raid that humiliated me,"
or "You tortured me,"
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