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Drone Attacks: 'The Best Of A Bad Set Of Options'
I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... has allowed the CIA and the US military to carry out "signature" drone strikes on turban targets in Yemen. US counter terrorism adviser John Brennan admitted for the first time that civilians are sometimes killed in drone strikes. "It is extremely rare," he said, "but it has happened."
"In Pakistain's context, drone attacks have worked and brought remarkable results," says security expert Emma McEachan, who has served with NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... . "Paks have been cooperative, but quiet." She said there were limitations with how to verify who is being killed because the US had to reply on local agents rather than forensics. "Drone attacks obviously come with costs, but they are the best of a bad set of options."
But Pakistain seems to be rethinking its drone policy. "We have raised the drone attacks issue with the US at various levels. We are trying to resolve this issue on a priority basis," Foreign Office front man Moazzam Khan told news hounds in a recent briefing. An important argument against drone attacks is that they fuel more terrorism than they prevent. There is a significant backlash against the attacks in the Pak media, and a number of polls indicate a majority of Paks oppose them. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani admits drone attacks have killed key terror suspects, but has spoken against them in the parliament and on public forums. But a poll conducted by the Aryana Institute in the tribal areas shows the local people support drone strikes. A top Pakistain Army commander stationed in FATA and fighting Taliban, Al Qaeda, and other turbans, told local journalists he favoured drone attacks. Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), who are seen as enemy by the Pak military, have also been targeted in drone attacks. The TTP publicly acknowledged sending out a Jordanian jacket wallah who killed 14 members of CIA working at a drone command and control station in Afghanistan.
 Wazoo. Since then, drone attacks have not only killed important leaders of Al Qaeda, but also killed turban leaders considered enemies of Pakistain, such as Baitullah Mehsud, Ilyas Kashmiri, and Atiyah Abd al-Rahman. Drone attacks have killed more enemies of both Pakistain and the US than ground offensives or any other strategy attempted since 9/11.Mohsin Afridi, an activist who opposes drone attacks, says many of them have killed children. "While the US kills us from sky, Paks kill us on the ground in Dire Revenge™ attacks." He claimed more than 4,000 civilians have been killed in drone strikes. Other sources say the number of verified civilian deaths is much less. "Pakistain needs a clear policy on drone attacks along with an above-board counter terrorism policy that doesn't pick between the good forces of Evil and bad ones," says Carl Adams, a former NATO commander. "For its part, the United States needs to realize that any policy on drones needs to be carefully worked out with Pakistain before any more strikes happen." The use of CIA personnel to operate and conduct drone strikes has also become a serious legal issue. CIA personnel are not part of the US armed forces, are not subject to military command structure, and do not wear uniform. Under international law, they are therefore civilians directly participating in hostilities, much like the fighters they target. But Matthew Waxman, adjunct senior fellow for law and foreign policy with the Council on Foreign Relations, believes there is legal justification for the attacks. "In general, lethal force is legally permissible against bad boy in an ongoing war and such force may be used on the territory of a foreign state," he said, "if that state consents or if it is unwilling or unable to take action." Posted by: trailing wife 2012-05-20 |
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