National Bird Page #2

of signals intelligence... Sorry,

it's really, really tough.

It's really tough.

And I know it's core

and it's central to what

I was doing and, like, my

whole reason for speaking here,

so... but I'm also very unaware

of where that line is drawn.

And... so I have to be

very- extraordinarily

cautious about what I can

and can't say on camera.

The... though it's

something so simple

and so benign that you wouldn't

imagine it were even of, you

know, it would even of concern

there's still- there's no...

There's no doubt in my mind

that if I said the wrong thing

or give away the wrong kind of

information about what I was

doing that I wouldn't...

That I would be safe

from prosecution of any kind.

LISA:
When I first

got into the military,

I mean, I was thinking

it was kind of a win-win.

It was a force for

good in the world.

I could actually help

people, I could go places.

I could learn things.

There was nothing

negative about it

at the time, that

was in my thinking

or in my consciousness.

And you know, I

thought I was gonna

be on the right side

of history, and today I

don't believe I was.

I worked on a DGS, a

Distributed Ground System.

As the name implies, I mean,

it's a distributed system.

And it spans the globe,

and it eats data.

And it eats lots, and

lots, and lots of data.

This is global. This

is getting information

anywhere, at any time.

Shooting people from

anywhere, at any time.

And it's not just one

person sitting there

with a little remote

control, a little joystick

moving around a plane that's

halfway across the world.

That's not all there is.

It's like borders

don't matter anymore.

And there's a huge

system that spans

the globe that can just suck up

endless amounts of your life.

Your personal data.

I mean, this could grow

to get so out of control.

And we're not the only

ones that have this.

This is gonna be commonplace,

if it's not already.

[inaudible] need some water?

It's a secret program,

and what that means

is that I can't just go

shouting off the hilltops

telling the public what it is.

What I can tell

you is that to me,

one person who worked

within this massive thing,

it's frightening.

If I'm beginning with this

really long sentence.

"Sergeant Lang also spearheaded

the emission security

and accredidation process

for four coalition computer

networks enabling the

exploitation of 2,400 sorties,

and resulted in the timely

and accurate identification

of 121,000 insurgent

targets in support

of Operations Iraqi Freedom

and Enduring Freedom."

And then it goes on.

That means that the system

that I worked on basically

identified 121,000

insurgent targets.

121,000 lives affected by

technology that we control.

And in this case, we're talking

about a two year period.

So how many years have

we been at war now?

At least 12. Multiply.

Add up some numbers

and see what's really going on.

Dear Lord, we thank you

for this beautiful day.

We thank you for

friends and families.

Thank you for

everyone, everything

that you've given us.

Bless this food and

nourish our bodies.

Give everyone safety

in their travel.

Amen.

Dig in.

HEATHER:
I was an imagery

analyst. And a screener.

My job was to watch

what's happening

in the video... the drones...

The live video of course.

And identify everything.

Another remote duty

station-you'd

have the pilot of course... who

was flying the actual aircraft.

And the sensor operator, who

is moving the camera around.

They were the ones that

actually push the button.

I do not push the button.

I just identify what

necessitates a button pushing.

We can't just bomb

someone and fly away.

We have to follow through.

The bomb hit, and wait for

it to cool down a little bit.

And then you can see,

like, the body parts.

You can identify,

like, that could

be the lower half of his body,

and that could be the leg.

And then sometimes you'll

stick around and watch

family come in and get them.

Or like, pick up the parts

and put their family member

in a blanket.

And a couple of people hold

on to a corner of the blanket

and carry him back

to their compound.

According to my

mental health records,

I was high risk for

suicide because of the way

I acted about my job.

My psychologist called

my first Sergeant

and he recommended that

I be possibly moved

to anything that wasn't

involving watching

people die all the time.

And the first Sergeant said

that our team was undermanned

and that they absolutely

needed me to work mission.

So he would look into

it, but never returned

my psychologist phone calls.

And never gave him

any indications

that I was gonna be

moved to a better

job and I obviously wasn't.

I stayed doing that job until

the last possible moment

when they had to let

me out of process

because I was actually

getting out of the military.

So I guess that's the

cost of a human life

because the fact that I was

on a suicide watch list,

and they still wouldn't allow me

to do something else that might

help me, a little bit. Obviously

didn't matter to the military.

And that... that shows how

much the Air Force cares

about its intelligence troops.

Look down the bottom there.

There's ice on the steps too.

You could tell she'd

have a stressful day

if she'd call me up, and she'd

be crying, or she'd be upset.

But then she couldn't

talk about it.

And then when you ask her, well

you... can you talk to anybody

else about it?

Well, no we're not supposed

to talk to anybody.

So she was having

more and more issues

each day that things went on.

A mom knows these

things. And then

when you hear your daughter

talking to you on the phone,

and you can tell that

she's in trouble.

Just by the emotion

and the inflection

in the stress that you

could hear in her voice,

I knew she was in trouble.

And the only thing I could do

is just stay in touch with her

on a daily basis, so she felt

like she had someone there.

Because I have a feeling if

somebody wasn't there for her,

she wouldn't be here right now.

And her friends, a lot of them

were in the same boat she was.

All drinking. All carrying

on. Trying to forget the pain.

HEATHER (ON VIDEO): I've... I'm

just scared. I'm always scared.

All those little kids were

just scared to go outside.

WOMAN (ON VIDEO):

Now I would like

to play a clip of

President Obama

addressing US drone

warfare at National Defense

University in Washington DC.

PRESIDENT OBAMA (ON VIDEO):

And before any strike is taken,

there must be near-certainty

that no civilians

will be killed or injured.

The highest standard we can set.

Yes, the conflict with al-Qaeda,

like all armed conflict

invites tragedy.

But by narrowly

targeting our action

against those who

want to kill us

and not the people

they hide among,

we are choosing the

course of action

least likely to result in

the loss of innocent life.

DANIEL:
When the president

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