CIA Ramping Up Drone Strikes In Pakistan
All Things Consider — By Daniel Strauss on December 7, 2009 at 10:09 amThere is little doubt that “warheads on foreheads,” in the macho lingo of intelligence officers, have been disruptive to the militants in Pakistan, removing leaders and fighters, slowing movement and sowing dissension as survivors hunt for spies who may be tipping off the Americans.
The Pakistani government considers the drone strikes a violation of its sovereignty, and its leaders tend to be quite angry and vocal about the issue. The trouble with the ‘sovereignty’ argument is that Pakistan really has no control in Waziristan and the tribal areas anyway. Moreover, the people getting worked up over these strikes generally don’t live where they take place. Expect the Pakistanis to continue expressing their unhappiness, and for the CIA to continue using drones while the State Department makes the requisite apologies.
–Evan Johnson
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2 Comments
Jane Mayer had a very thoughtful article on the use of Predator drones in the New Yorker a couple of months ago:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_mayer
I wonder whether the enthusiasm of the US public and our govt for the use of drones to target enemy leaders would evaporate quickly if both sides had Predators.
I’d be very interested in reading an analysis of this development in weaponry by someone who is an expert on just war theory.
It’s one big game. Pakistan condones American bombing tactics in Waziristan but can’t outwardly say so or they look like a weak government that can’t handle their own people. This is very much so a case of good cop and bad cop, but don’t lose sight that the States and Pakistan are working closely together. Hell, who do you think is guarding their nuke?