We Just Don't

McClatchy Newspapers published a detailed report alleging that a U.S. drone strike in Yemen killed not only suspected militants, but also a ten-year-old boy named Abdulaziz Huraydan. If true, the boy's killing sets a grisly new milestone. This is the first reported civilian death from a drone strike since President Obama's May 23 speech on counter-terrorism, in which he told us that the U.S. would only strike if there was a "near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured." A week after Obama's speech, Secretary of State John Kerry publicly stated, "We do not fire when we know there are children or collateral … we just don't."

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It appears that the boy was the younger brother of a suspected al Qaida militant, and that the strike targeted the car they were traveling in.

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Absent Baron's report, there would be virtually no public record of ten-year-old Abdulaziz's alleged killing by the United States. Numerous major outlets did not cover the strike at all. (They have also largely failed to report allegations of other strikes in Yemen since Obama's speech.) Those that did cover the June 9 strike, including the Associated Press and Reuters, made no mention of the child, although Baron and journalist Iona Craig had reported -- via twitter -- early allegations of the child's death on the very day of the strike.

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Notably, John Brennan, during his nomination to be CIA Director, stated that if there was a mistake and the wrong person was killed, we "need to acknowledge it publicly."

  Esquire

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.