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Photo Gallery Ramstein's Role in the US Drone War

The US Air Force base in Ramstein is a central and indispensible element in Barack Obama's controversial and deadly use of drones in the war on terror. New documents are creating pressure for both Washington and the German government.
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A US Air Force MQ-1 Predator is an unmanned aerial vehicle and a deadly precision weapon used in President Barack Obama's drone war to eliminate al-Qaida terrorists.

Foto: Tsgt Effrain Lopez/ dpa
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According to classified documents seen by SPIEGEL and The Intercept, Ramstein -. the largest United States military base on foreign soil -- is involved in virtually every US Air Force drone attack.

Foto: DER SPIEGEL
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The documents originate from US intelligence sources and are classified as "top secret". This diagram shows how the US government structures the deployment of drones. The drones are controlled from the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, but those communications are routed using an undersea cable to the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where they are then transmitted via satellite directly to the combat drones.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen here speaking to Obama ahead of the G-20 summit in late 2011, now faces the question of whether her government needs to investigate a possible massive violation of German law.

Foto: © BPA AGENCY / Reuters/ REUTERS
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It was already alleged two years ago that the data for all US drone deployments is routed through the Ramstein military base. The base as well as the satellite relay station used in the drone attacks are pictured in this Google Earth illustration.

Foto: DER SPIEGEL
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People gather near the wreckage of a car destroyed by a US drone strike, which targeted suspected al-Qaida militants in the al-Qatn district of the southeastern Yemeni province of Hadhramout in August 2012.

Foto: Khaled Abdullah/ REUTERS
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There are also questions about how much the German government knew about the role played by the Ramstein air base in the drone war. This note documents a June 20, 2013 meeting between US General Philip Breedlove, the Commander of US European Command, and Emily Haber, then a state secretary in the German Foreign Ministry. Haber told Breedlove there were concerns in the German parliament and the media about the "suspected role played by US installations in Germany in the deadly drone deployments in Africa." According to the notes, Breedlove, speaking with his knowledge as the former commander of Ramstein, said, "We're not flying drones out of that building. ... No flying, no shooting."

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A 2013 German government memo notes that Haber has requested at a minimum a denial by the US government along the lines of, "US installations in Germany are not involved in the targeted killings of persons in Africa." It also notes that Merkel's Chancellery and the German Defense Ministry have urged the government to "sit out" pressure from parliament and the public on the Ramstein issue.

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In this letter dated Nov. 18, 2011, the Department of the Army announces to the German Defense Ministry its intention of building a satellite station at the Ramstein air base that will be used to control its drones, including Predator, Reaper and Global Hawk unmanned aircraft. The letter describes the plan as having a "very high priority".

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This classified Foreign Ministry memo documents the first meeting between the ministry and US Ambassador John B. Emerson after he began his new job in Berlin. The official who met with the ambassador notes following the meeting that, "With respect to the deployment of combat drones in the so-called 'war on terror,' Germany and the USA have differing legal views."