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| India-Pakistan |
| More talk on drones |
| 2013-12-23 |
| [Pak Daily Times] The United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... General Assembly (UNGA) has passed a resolution that includes strictures on drones. It calls for the international community to follow international law in regards to the drone strikes. The resolution was tabled by Pakistain and other countries concerned about the escalating drone attacks by the US. Whilst the US has been carrying out drone attacks since 2004 in an attempt to decapitate the al Qaeda and Taliban hydra, this means of unconventional warfare has been receiving plenty of bad press recently. Ever since last month's report by This is all well and good. It is heartening to note that the UN is urging more transparency and caution where drone strikes are concerned but there are still questions. What does UNGA have to say about the provisions in international law on 'hot pursuit', i.e. when the enemy strikes from another territory and the drones pursue them? This is what has been happening when Talibs attack US forces in Afghanistan from their sanctuaries in Pakistain. Hot pursuit is very much an accepted means of self-defence to go after the enemy. The snuffies who use our soil to attack Afghanistan must be taken out one way or the other; instead of having boots on the ground, which is unacceptable to Pakistain, drones allow for more precision and a lot less civilian casualties. Unfortunately, in a war, collateral damage is inevitable. It is best to use means that ensure the minimum of such damage. Not much is said about the people living in these tribal areas, people who have gone on record as saying that they actually prefer the drones to no action at all. Their lives have been made miserable by the heavy weight of the snuffies on their heads. The media in Pakistain and our politicians, whilst harping on about the UNGA condemnation have failed to mention that the drone bit was only a small fraction of the entire resolution, a bit of an afterthought as part of a much larger resolution on human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. and the like. The UNGA resolution however, may only be seen as a moral victory as UNGA resolutions are non-binding. Only the UN Security Council has the authority to actually implement such a resolution. Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... in Pakistain, we have passed another anti-drone resolution in the National Assembly, but we need to understand that without drones our bad boy problem might get even worse than it already is. It is a mess out there and if someone is willing to clean it up, we should welcome it. |
| Posted by:Fred |