Trump’s drone strikes outpaced Obama’s totals in far less time
Evidence
As a candidate, Trump famously promised to kill not only those accused of terrorism but their families as well. The racist dehumanization was extended beyond “combatants” or military age men the Obama administration saw fit to kill to include their families as well. In power, Trump dramatically expanded the theater of operations from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria to Yemen, Pakistan, and Somalia. In just his first two years in office, he launched more strikes in each of these countries than Obama had. He staged 238 strikes in Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan, more than Obama’s 186 over a similar period. He carried out 176 attacks in Yemen in just two years, dwarfing Obama’s total of 154 strikes in Yemen in eight years. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 519
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- XREF: Directly supports the book’s thesis that Islamophobic dehumanization expands the killing zone — connects to the politics-of-empire frame from earlier chapters.
Related
- Trump’s drone strike escalation outpaced Obama across every theater. (similarity 0.96)
- Trump escalated drone strikes beyond Obama’s totals across expanded theaters. (similarity 0.95)
- The drone war escalated dramatically under Trump across new countries (similarity 0.92)
- US drone warfare began under Clinton and escalated through Obama to Trump. (similarity 0.89)
- Obama’s drone strikes killed Muslims across five nations (similarity 0.80)
- Drone strikes killed up to 9,000 people including 2,000 civilians and 500 children. (similarity 0.80)
- Obama’s drone campaign killed civilians in five Muslim-majority countries (similarity 0.79)
- US drone strikes from 2010-2020 killed up to 2,000 civilians and 500 children (similarity 0.79)