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by Ezra Van Auken<\/span><\/p>\n American drones have been a problem around the world since their inception in the early 2000s; in the past year or so, the advocacy against drones has increased immensely. This could be partly due to the acceleration of drone strikes that have occurred in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya \u2013 along with Afghanistan. Within the drone world has come about a whistleblower to the operations.<\/span><\/p>\n Former United States drone operator, 27-year-old Brandon Bryant from Montana worked for nearly a decade flying predator drones. A turn for the worst made Bryant decide that the predator drone job wasn\u2019t the best job for him after conducting and witnessing the killing of a child in Afghanistan. \u201cI saw men, women and children die during that time,\u201d Bryant explained to\u00a0Spiegel Online<\/i>. The former drone pilot went on to say, \u201cI never thought I would kill that many people. In fact, I thought I couldn\u2019t kill anyone at all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Replaying his experience, Bryant noted that after killing his first two men by drone strike, he then \u201ccried on his way home\u201d from work. The 27-year-old commented about how he felt lost from sanity, \u201cI felt disconnected from humanity for almost a week.\u201d Shockingly, Bryant detailed the accounts of a time he mistakenly, but by orders, killed a young boy in Afghanistan.<\/span><\/p>\n Before the hellfire missile hit the target and the mud-roofed house was destroyed, a boy walked around the corner. Bryant recalled asking, \u201cDid we just kill a kid?\u201d In response, his operational partner said, \u201cYeah, I guess that was a kid.\u201d As the Guardian reported, \u201cOne day he collapsed at work, doubling over and spitting blood. The doctor ordered him to stay home, and not to return to work until he could sleep more than four hours a night for two weeks in a row.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n If more honorable and moral individuals who have been in the drone business were to come out about what is going on, I\u2019m positive we would hear more of the same stories.<\/span><\/p>\n Without much transparency from the Obama administration regarding drones, it is likely that these practices will not change anytime soon. For instance, Obama\u2019s counterterrorism advisor, John Brennan is looking forward to an expansion of overseas drone use. Brennan explained earlier this year, \u201cThere are aspects of the Yemen program that I think are a true model of what I think the U.S. counterterrorism community should be doing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Members in Washington including Rep. from Texas, Ron Paul and Rep. Dennis Kucinich have been heavy advocates for reforming the drone programs and learning more about what the drones are doing overseas.<\/span><\/p>\n