Illegal use of drones by CIA in Pakistan

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Tensions Rise as US Drone Strike Kills 10 in Northwest Pakistan

Killings Further Complicate Deal for Border Crossing

by Jason Ditz antiwar.com

The negotiation between the US and Pakistan on reopening a border crossing into occupied Afghanistan took a major turn for the worse today after a US drone pounded a village in North Waziristan killing 10.

 

Pakistan’s parliament has made reopening the border conditional on the US ending strikes. Though the US has ruled out doing so, Pakistan’s cabinet allowed some supplies in last week and authorized the military to negotiate a permanent opening.

The drone strikes have been enormously unpopular in Pakistan, and have killed a large number of unidentified tribesmen.

(possibly over 3000 women, children, old people and men who might be Taliban based on hearsay and intelligence from the ISI who also acts as on the ground pathfinders, and other dodgy sources.....whilst at prayer, in village meetings, funerals, weddings, tribal Jirga's which otherwise have always been held regularly to settle inter-tribal disputes....or people who return to their destroyed houses after a drone strike..........bug splatting as the CIA calls its. Over 90% of the victims are innocent civilians, whilst the rest of the 10% are merely alleged to be Taliban based on hearsay, and not decided by any conclusive evidence. Guns have been in this part of the world since 1505, and over 1 million men have them in the NWFP, and of course groups of men do meet often under the above circumstances.

For some strange reason this mass murdering, extra-judicial killing, done without the official permission of the Pakistan government isn't very popular with the ordinary Pakistani people (Though privately Choootia Zardari has told the Americans that he is happy with them, and the Pakistan Punjab military have cooperated with the Americans in its use in the Waziristan theater)....though the tone of Western liberal media has a tinge of surprise why so many ordinary Pakistanis are unhappy about these drone strikes which kill their fellow citizens.

Because if they are OPENLY legitimated by the Pakistani state:

(i) They can go on for ever, indefinitely, rather like the American occupation of Afghanistan. 2006-----?????????

(ii) They kill innocent Pakistani citizens including women and children.

(iii) Today its ONLY that part of Pakistan, and yet tomorrow it can be the rest of the country, with the help of the Mir Jafars in the Punjab military.

(iv) The USA has no real enemy to fight in that theater. Only a mere excuse to use their high tech to demonstrate 1. their power and 2. pander to their base innate racism......what more fun than killing dirt poor farmers who can't defend themselves, using a JOYSTICK, from a safe clear distance 3. To demonstrate that the GWoT is still hot and pro-active, which still requires the services of the noble self less Pentagon/CIA, and 4. to harass Pakistan as a State entity with American technical superiority, though obviously the Punjab Pakistan military haven't cottoned on to this. 5. To deflect attention away from the Pentagon/CIA Opium operation.......6.finally punish the Pashtun people for being REAL PURE ARYANS....Envy racism....to give this saga a little racial twist, the CIA uses the ugliest looking Indic's in the Pakistan Punjab military against the Pashtuns in Waziristan...it thus "cleverly" also becomes a divide and rule policy.

But what we must never forget beyond the colorful convoluted narratives is that the USA's presence in the region is harmful to all, that drones are illegal when used against another country's territory under International law, they kill innocent people and they challenge Pakistan's sovereignty as a viable stable state)

Anger at the US over the attacks has made it a key issue for Pakistan’s next election, with a number of opposition leaders attacking the ruling PPP for its pro-US stance.

The Obama Administration has defended the drone strikes as a vital part of its overall strategy in the region, and President Obama has ruled out ending them under any circumstances. This is likely to make finalizing a deal on the border issue all but impossible for the current government.