Pakistan Wants US to Halt Drone Strikes, We are killing too many Al Qaeda and Taliban
Pakistan demands drawdown of US drones, CIA agents We are killing too many Al Qaeda and Taliban!
Pakistan Wants US to Halt Drone Strikes
after the newest complaint U.S. drone strike kills 6 in Pakistan South Waziristan
As we discussed, new and increased drone attacks came in Khyber, an area abutting Afghanistan’s Nangahar province, that was notably drone-free. It had become an area for militants fleeing military action in South Waziristan. They also brought the drone-strike tally for last year up to 113, more than twice the 53 strikes the year before. But those figures don’t begin to tell the whole story.
According to a tally kept by the Long War Journal, 58 of those strikes have come since September: There has been a drone attack every 1.8 days since Labor Day. “unprecedented since the U.S. began the air campaign in Pakistan in 2004.” (By contrast, in 2008, there were just 34 strikes.) Both Roggio and the New America Foundation have found that the overwhelming majority of this year’s strikes have clustered in North Waziristan: at least 99. I wish I could find the numbers for this year but you know they are increasing as we knew they would and sadly must.
That torrid pace of attacks should make it beyond debate that the drones are the long pole in the U.S.’s counterterrorism tent, even if the drone program is technically a secret. So called extremists have their equalizer "the IED", ours is the drone. The Pakistanis haven’t sent their Army into North Waziristan so it is up to our drones like it or not. While most Pakistanis remain ignorant of the strikes, those in the tribal areas live literally in their shadow, and register enormous discontent, approving of retaliatory attacks on U.S. forces.
There’s no official or universally accepted figure of how many civilians have died as a result of the strikes, but New America pegs it at around 25 percent of all fatalities. Long War Journal’s registry is more generous, claiming that 1,671 militants and 108 civilians have died in the strikes since 2006. I just don't know since as we know that complicit Afghan's will say they were civilians killed though they were Taliban just to get the people angry and on their side.
A United Nations report urged Obama to rein in the drones, restricting them to attacks on the senior most militants. He did the opposite. Most are against the drones but I am not as long as civilian harm is minimized or preferably negated. The new area we have been in is supposed to be used by militants only. I have to believe we are starting to hit the top of Al Qaeda and the Taliban where some in the ISI have strong bonds.
Anyway don’t expect Obama to heed that warning in 2011 either. After reading the administration’s war-progress report, The New York Times‘ David Sanger noted that background discussions with administration officials made it clear that next year (2011) “the pace will be picked up as we would expect it to.” The technology certainly enables it: The Predator is giving way to the Reaper drone, which carries a bigger payload; while weapons manufacturers are lightening the weights of air-launched precision missiles. General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Knowing our many discussions of late as to the ties between the Taliban, the Haqqani's, and elements in the ISI I am very concerned to find out they are in fact keeping elements who want to kill the Haqqani's from doing so and being so open about it so I thought we better discuss the ISI and the Haqqani's once again. These developments are not good! This really bothers me. I am not going to elaborate on the vile nature of Pakistan actively working against anti Taliban factions. That will be denied but it is fact!
I understand Mullah Omar is under control by elements of Pakistan's ISI and not allowed to roam too far. High level Taliban commanders are also being flown by NATO to Kabul in at least one instance and driven from Pakistan by NATO escort to Kabul to have these secret meetings with Hamid Karzai. They are so secret that mid level commanders deny these meetings are happening and vow to fight on period!
I believe the Haqqani's the ISI and maybe China who just built a railroad right through Taliban country are all protecting Bin Laden and nothing will get resolved without Pakistan playing a key role. I firmly believe they could kill the Haqqani's today if they wanted and put an end to this.
As you know, the US is increasingly taking matters into its own hands inside Pakistan. The Haqqani's network and their increasingly foreign fighters have become the main focus after 9 years of fighting. The Haqqani's Network's North Waziristan leadership -- usually called the Miram Shah Shura consists of a number of Haqqani's family members and closely associated long-serving commanders.
At the top of the network is Sirajuddin Haqqani's, who oversees the group's political and military activities and is the main liaison to the Mullah Muhammad Omar led Quetta Shura Taliban, the Taliban's leadership body (named for the capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan province). He is also one of the network's liaisons to Pakistani Taliban figures and al-Qaeda.
He travels regularly into Afghanistan to coordinate with field commanders and occasionally to Peshawar and South Waziristan to connect with militants there. Remember Bowe Bergdhal? There are many field commanders in Afghanistan, but turnover is high because many get killed or captured. The most prominent is Mullah Sangin, who is believed to be holding Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl a captured U.S. soldier and Zakim Shah the movement's shadow governor of Khost province.
Jalaluddin Haqqani legendary leader who fought the Soviets and his son, Sirajuddin who directs operations are increasingly the targets of drones and now manned NATO aircraft in Pakistan as the Pakistani's have been leery to go in the area for whatever reason. Many are being killed, I heard over 80 in a week with no civilian casualties.
I wish we would quickly kill the Haqqani's, both Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin and leave the rest to Pakistan as our invasion of their country even to kill Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters who were known killers of NATO forces may be the straw that broke the camels back.
I would hate to see this unite the Haqqani network with Pakistan against us. I think those in the ISI protecting Mullah Omar, the Haqqani's, Al-Zawari, Bin Laden and the lot can be persuaded to give them up and cooperate in working for peace with the Taliban if we cooperate with them this time. We must include Pakistan in these talks, they are the key. We must truly give peace a chance! This is a real tight rope act and I do not like the way this is developing!
We are getting closer hitting a nerve and I can finally see success if Pakistan and the ISI cooperate.
James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com
9 comments:
You of all people should know that this war is not going to be solved militarily. Even the top generals of our military have said that. It (war) will never end as long as the Saudis continue to fund both sides. They were the ones who have helped stir up so many troubles not just in the Middle East but in Africa as well. And we have been their lap dog doing and bombing at their calling.
R C if you want to read the truth about what happened at Tora Bora and the ISI paying the pilots on 9/11 etc. I have some great links. Most do not know but believe it or not we built Tora Bora for the mujaheddin fighting the Russians. I remember watching film on TV as we just watched Bin Laden and his caravan leave Tora Bora and drive into Pakistan.
You remember General McCrystal, he ran the black ops that killed Tillman. He also controlled those in Pakistan prepared to take over the nukes if they were endangered or so they think.
Thanks Demeur, of course! We have to declare victory and get the hell out before we join the graveyard of Nations. Long ago I decided we are hanging around because of Pakistan's nukes.
Interesting about the drones, but I'd be flabbergasted if one were to actually, verifiably nail bin Laden or Omar. For all we know, bin Laden could be enjoying a quiet, comfortable existence in some lesser Saudi city, a compound in Yemen or a villa near Islamabad.
We need to get out because we can't eliminate the terrorist threat against Afghanistan without full, active cooperation from Pakistan. That's not attainable because in form and function, Pakisan isn't a unified modern nation state with a fully functioning central government that formulates and faithfully executes any kind of coherent policy.
As in Saudi Arabia, you have a central government nominally allied with us. But you have groups within the country that have their own foreign, financial and military policies that are quite different. The central government and these other groups mostly, tacitly, leave one another alone to do what they're going to do.
I liken the situation to playing pinball badly. Instead of shooting one ball at a time and working the flippers, you shoot all the balls at once, stand back and hope for the best. The balls all kind of do their own thing, que sera, sera.
We shouldn't be risking the lives of our people and wasting billions in that kind of environment.
How well we fell into Bin Laden's trap. His goal I'm told was to defeat America, financially. That's why he picked the towers as one of the targets. Symbolism is paramount, always with these people. I think he just plans to bleed us dry. So far he's succeeding. I have to wonder just how many years we will be at War.
Just a note; day after day I hear the media proclaiming Afghanistan to be our longest war. Wrong! It's our longest foreign war. The American Indian War was our longest, 80 years. I hope this isn't a record that they are trying to beat.
The drones have inflamed the locals, and it doesn't really matter if we get Mullah Omar or Osama (who is probably either really hard-up or dead, already.) Their replacements are already there, educated by the Saudis and armed by us.
Our only hope is to stop playing games in a part of the world we simply never knew enough about to be successful in. They are patient people, and they will eventually win out. And then they'll kill each other off, just like they've been doing for centuries. We won't stop it, and we won't win any friends that last any length of time. It simply doesn't work that way there.
S' W' I really don't think we would get them because they are protected by the complicit ISI but they are making the relationship more tenuous.
You're right Tim! We are not done playing the fools Libya is just getting going and we are getting dragged in further every day. WTF?
Hi JR! I just wish we would go home but the asses in charge already have another war in Libya.
Post a Comment