Re: Drone attacks
I hope they soon deal with the terrorists hidden in Karachi INSHALLAH…oh and the biggest terrorist of all sitting in London singing ghazals.
Re: Drone attacks
Condemning drone attacks: a major shift or damage-control exercise?
Usman Manzoor
Saturday, March 19, 2011
ISLAMABAD: No one in the government or the Foreign Office is ready to confirm or deny whether the strong condemnations of the latest drone attacks by the president and the army chief actually mark a major shift in Pakistan’s policy or just a damage-control exercise to counter the negative fallout of the Raymond Davis release.
But what has happened is rare, as it is for the first time that a drone attack has been condemned by the COAS, the president and the prime minister and the Foreign Office called the US Ambassador to lodge a strong protest.
**The prime minister has been condemning the drone attacks in the past and the last time he condemned the attacks was on December 29, 2010. After his condemnation a motion was moved in the National Assembly for debate on drone attacks. It is worth mentioning here that the prime minister was quoted by WikiLeaks cable to have told the American ambassador, “I don’t care if they do it as long as they get the right people. We’ll protest in the National Assembly and then ignore it.” **
Director General Inter-Services Public Relations, despite repeated attempts, was not available for his comments. PPP leader and advisor to the President Zardari, Senator Faisal Raza Abidi when asked about any shift in policy on drone attacks, considering that the Presidency had maintained mysterious silence over the issue since September 2008 but has now condemned the latest drone attack, said that the president was not in Islamabad therefore he was not in a position to reply to such questions.
**When asked whether this condemnation was a damage-control exercise after Raymond Davis episode, the PPP senator sought time to answer all the queries being raised. The Foreign Office spokesperson, Ms Tehmina Janjua, when asked about the change in policy over drone attacks said that it was not the first time that the US ambassador was called and drone attacks were condemned. “His predecessor was also called at the Foreign Office and drone attacks were condemned”, said the FO spokesperson. ** 
It is worth mentioning here that the drone strikes have killed 938 people in 132 attacks during the year 2010. On average, each month of the last year witnessed 11 drone attacks and killing of 77 people. As such, there was no significant change in the intensity of drone attacks in 2011 till Raymond Davis issue emerged. The US intensified drone attack campaign since the beginning of last year as the first month of the year 2010 witnessed 12 drone attacks, which killed 107 persons.
Earlier, 1114 people were killed in 96 drone attacks from 2004 to 2009. An unprecedented increase in drone attacks was observed during the last four months of the year 2010. During this period, 451 people were killed in 51 strikes. In average, each month 113 people were killed in 13 attacks. The number of attacks in January 2011 showed no change in the intensity of drone strikes.
The first US drone attack inside Pakistan was carried out against the Taliban commander Moulvi Naik Muhammad on June 18, 2004. It was the only attack during the year. There were only nine attacks reported from 2004 to 2007, six of them carried out in North Waziristan. President Bush had intensified the drone campaign inside Pakistan during the last year of his tenure. Consequently, 34 such attacks and 296 deaths were reported during the year 2008.
It was expected that President Obama would review the US drone policy. But he not only continued it but also intensified it to unprecedented level. The US killed 709 people in 53 drone attacks in the year 2009. Due to weak public and government reaction to these attacks in Pakistan, the US government was encouraged to increase the intensity of drone attacks to unprecedented level in 2010 killing 938 people in 132 attacks. So far - from 2004 to March 18, 2011 - drone strikes have killed at least 2300 persons in 245 attacks.
Re: Drone attacks
http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/18/us-pakistan-relationship-increasingly-strained.html
Pak-US tensions undermine fight against terror By Cyril Almeida | From the Newspaper
PESHAWAR: A day after drone-fired missiles killed at least 45 people in the Dattakhel area of North Waziristan Agency, tensions between the US and Pakistan once again threatened to overshadow the fight against militancy in the region, according to officials and analysts in the provincial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
“Relations are bad and will get worse and will take away from the war on terror,” warned Brig (retd) Mehmood Shah, a former security secretary of Fata.
**The CIA-run drone programme and the minutiae of Pak-US relations are shrouded in secrecy, but analysts and officials were unanimous in their opinion about at least three matters.
One, Thursday’s drone strike killed many non-militant tribals, including khasadars, who had gathered to resolve a local dispute. Two, the strike was a deliberate and provocative message from the US to the Pakistan Army. Three, the domestic criticism of the army in the wake of the release of Raymond Davis has played some part in Gen Kayani’s condemnation of the drone strike.
**
The drone strikes in an open field in Nevi Adda Shega occurred when members of the Madakhel tribe had convened a jirga to decide a dispute over a chromite mine in the area. Khasadars (members of a lightly armed local police force) and some other local officials were also present at the site of the attack. Tariq Hayat, secretary law and order, Fata, confirmed the civilian and police casualties.
However, while many of those killed were local tribesmen and not necessarily militants, there is some uncertainty over the exact circumstances of the attack.
According to a senior analyst who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect local sources, the drones had initially fired at a car carrying five militants very close to the jirga. Having missed the first time, the drones fired again, this time killing both the occupants of the car and many people on the ground.
A Fata official appeared to corroborate this version and mentioned “people passing by in the area” who may have been the actual target.
**However, other analysts were dismissive. “Drones are so accurate that they can get people on motorcycles now. There is pinpoint accuracy. They hit what they intend to hit,” claimed a security analyst with some knowledge of the drone-strike programme.
**
While the exact circumstances of the drone strike may never be known, there is little uncertainty about the message it was intended to convey.
Coming on the heels of the release of US covert operative Raymond Davis, the drone strike is a sign of America’s continuing “unhappiness with the Pak command structure”, according to Khalid Aziz.
Brig Shah was also unequivocal: “This is an arrogant US response. Twelve missiles in one day is not routine. The message was clear and categorical: we will do what we want.”
While security officials have leaked suggestions to the media that the resolution of the Raymond Davis affair also involved some understanding on redrawing the contours of the Pak-US relationship, most analysts were sceptical.
“Look what (the Americans) did the day after (Davis’s release). If there was a deal, it was clearly a weak deal or possibly involved personal interests, not national interests”, claimed a security analyst who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the army-led security establishment.
If the American action was harsh, the Pakistan response in the form of a strong statement by Gen Kayani has been interpreted as equally worrying for the state of Pak-US relations.
“This is extreme messaging by both sides. If we become rigid, America will disengage. Conditions in Afghanistan could worsen, but Pakistan has financial and other constraints,” said Khalid Aziz, adding, “Who wins in that scenario?”
But a senior Fata official claimed, “We are not Djibouti or Algeria, we are a nuclear state, we are Pakistan. The Americans need to respect us.”
Rahimullah Yusufzai, a prominent expert on the region, was more circumspect: “Both sides need each other and both sides know it, so there won’t be a break. But there is no sincerity in the relationship, it is purely opportunistic. So things are bad and will be bad every step of the way.”
Indeed, part of the Pakistan Army’s response to Thursday’s drone strike has been attributed by analysts to domestic compulsions.
**According to Mr Yusufzai, “Kayani had to react” to avoid local consequences. These included the possibility of retaliatory attacks against the army by angry Fata tribesmen and maintaining the morale of the security forces given that khasadars and other local officials had died in the drone strike.
Others, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, suggested the backlash from sections of the media and the public over the release of Raymond Davis had factored into the army’s calculations.
The internet is full of stories about a payoff to Gen Kayani (for Davis’s release). The army was losing credibility,” claimed a security analyst who suggested the army’s furious response to the American drone strike is “one of those games”.**
Another security expert said, “Gen Kayani must have thought through this statement. **The Raymond Davis release embarrassed the army and it couldn’t afford to look weak twice in succession.”
**
On the streets of Peshawar, however, there was little sign yesterday that Raymond Davis, Thursday’s drone strike, American pressure or the state of US-Pak relations were of much concern to the public.
Outside the Madni Masjid in Namak Mandi, riot police, TV crews and a few curious onlookers gathered in anticipation of a protest by the JUI-F following Friday prayers.
At 3pm, a pot-bellied bearded man with a bullhorn in hand emerged from the mosque shouting anti-America slogans. He was followed by less than a hundred protesters, many of them children.
Similar protests planned by the PTI and Jamaat-i-Islami in other parts of Peshawar also fizzled.
Back at Namak Mandi, a shopkeeper gestured towards the mosque and shrugged, “They’ve taken dollars and now they are talking about protests.” Customers nodded their heads in agreement, going about their Friday afternoon business.
In Peshawar at least, the rhythms of everyday life were not to be disturbed by political storms and international spats.