American intelligence agency CIA has failed to eliminate more than four Al Qaeda leaders in its highly costly and controversial 'liquidation by drones' campaign inside Pakistain during 2011, revealed an annual report complied by Conflict Monitoring Centre (CMC) on drone attacks. CMC, an independent research centre, which regularly monitors drone attacks in Pakistain, has prepared an annual report (2011) on drone attacks inside Pak territory.
The report notes 43 percent decline in drone attacks during 2011 than 2010. CIA had conducted 132 drone attacks in 2010. The number of fatalities in drone attacks has also dropped by 35 percent. Mounting protest and public backlash against drone attacks as well as tensions between US and Pakistain during the year led to the decline in drone attacks. US has suspended drone attacks after an attack by NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
helicopters on a Pak military check-post on November 26, 2011.
US had carried out 75 drone attacks inside Pakistain during the year 2011 killing 609 people. Among them only three were Arab commanders of Al Qaeda; one was UK's most wanted and just four were senior commanders of different factions of Pak myrmidons, the report said, adding that the rest were innocents.
American drones fired 242 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles during the year and destroyed 38 houses, 37 vehicles, one camp and a seminary. One such missile costs for $68000 which means the CIA spent $16.456 million or Rs 1.5 billion to kill 609 people. In average, ammunition cost of every single casualty was $27000 or Rs 2.4 million. If other expenses are included the overall cost of killing one suspected myrmidon will further rise. It may become point of concern for American taxpayer that such a huge amount of money was spent just to eliminate four Al Qaeda leaders and four Taliban capos. The report said drone strikes also strained US-Pak relations.
During 2011 collaboration and cooperation between CIA and ISI turned into confrontation. After arrest of CIA agent Raymond Davis and Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
Operation, ISI busted many modules of local and international CIA agents active in the country. As a result American agency was deprived of human intelligence in many areas of North and South Wazoo. This led to ineffectiveness of the drone attacks against myrmidon leadership, the report said.
CMC's tally of the drone attacks shows that overall number of drone attacks since 2004 has crossed the figure of 300 and So far 2661 people have been killed in 303 drone attacks. An unprecedented increase in drone Attacks in South Waziristan was observed during the year. In the past, drone attacks in South Waziristan were rare in numbers as 90 percent of the attacks in 2010 occurred in North Waziristan. During the year 2011, South Waziristan was targeted more frequently. Drone attacks in South Waziristan were increased by 60 percent. During 2010 which was deadliest year of the history of drone attacks in Pakistain with highest ever number of drone attacks and subsequent deaths, only 9 out of 132 strikes were carried out in South Waziristan. However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach...
in 2011 the number of attacks increased to 23. In North Waziristan, the CIA carried out 50 strikes while two strikes were carried out in
Kurram Agency...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
Contrary to American claims of only 50 civilian deaths during past eight years, a UK based media organization, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism confirmed that a minimum of 391 and a maximum of 780 innocent civilians including 175 children have so far been killed in drone attacks.
The report said that although Pak government has publicly opposed drone attacks but its 'anonymous' security officials kept playing dubious role while releasing false details of drone Attacks. The government also failed to devise any plan to record casualties of civilians and snuffies by drone attacks. No comprehensive compensation policy for civilian victims of these attacks is in place however the government has announced Rs 300,000 for each of the victims of infamous March 17 attack on a peace jirga in North Waziristan which killed 40 rustics. Drone attacks have emerged as a cause of the problem rather than a solution. During the year many public demonstrations were held against drone attacks in different parts of Pakistain while National Assembly, Senate, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
assemblies passed resolutions to condemn drone attacks. Besides public protests, there are at least three court cases pending against drone attacks in three different courts of Pakistain.