Re: Families of Drone Attacks Victim ask Nawaz to halt strikes
There were still many drone attacks before 2008. The number simply escalated after that.
The army’s earlier efforts were hampered by both political and military mindsets. In particular, the full weight of the military was held back because military strategy still dictated that India was the main threat to Pakistan and so the majority of forces were held for defense on the eastern frontier.
What has changed now is both official military policy now reflecting militant activity to be the main security threat to Pakistan, as well as the election of a government that has a policy of peace with India.
Now is the opportunity to flood the FATA with Pakistani soldiers to take full control of the area and completely remove the premise for drone strikes.
It is worth pointing out that there has never been a drone strike in places where the Pakistani state has full control, such as Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, etc, even when militants were identified by the US as being there (as testified by witnesses who have seen FBI officials at raids).