Wednesday, January 11, 2012

CIA Drone War Resumes in Pakistan | 4 Killed



Six weeks after twenty-four Pakistani soldiers were killed in a cross border attack the CIA has resumed the drone war in Pakistan. Yesterday, four people were killed near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region by CIA drone strikes.

Spencer Ackerman writing in Danger Room makes this point.
“The drone strikes are not a supplement to a war; they’re the centerpiece of how the Obama administration confronts terrorists. The White House’s plan for counter-terrorism makes that clear, as does the Pentagon’s new strategy blueprint. Anonymous administration officials, evidently itching to get back to the strikes, floated the (evidence-free) proposition in the New York Times that terrorists were regrouping during the six-week pause.”

The LA Times reports that
"Current and former U.S. officials recently told The Times that the CIA had suspended drone missile strikes on gatherings of low-ranking militants suspected in attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The move, they said, was an attempt to patch up steadily eroding ties between the two countries."

Voice of America reports that "American officials have denied that the recent drop-off in drone strikes was deliberate."

Radio Free Europe ran an update last week on Pakistan’s decision to seal the border with Afghanistan – blocking NATO supply trucks – after the killing of its soldiers.

Action Step: No More of the Same in Pentagon Spending

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Afghanistan 101 is a blog of the American Friends Service Committee
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