Drones in Pakistan
William S thinks that they have been been tacitly accepted:
The U.S. and Pakistan “reached tacit agreement in September on a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy that allows unmanned Predator aircraft to attack suspected terrorist targets in rugged western Pakistan, according to senior officials in both countries.”
And I think that Andrew is, at least, considering this point.
I have to disagree – my sources suggest they are a huge problem and Bloomberg carries news of Pakistani push back:
Pakistan denied giving the U.S. approval to target suspected militants on its territory, after the Washington Post said the nations had reached an agreement on allowing missile strikes by unmanned Predator drones.
“There is no tacit understanding,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshitold lawmakers yesterday when asked about the report, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan said.
My feeling is that we need to reduce the use of these drones and seriously consider whether the cost of using them is worth paying. The fact is that they are killing civilians. It is one thing to use them to target those at the very top of the Al Qaeda tree, it is another to use them as the weapon of choice. Better options are available. Some analysts are calling for increased intelligence gathering and placing additional resources behind multifaceted effort to snatch targets instead of striking them from the air. That is something I cannot speak to but I will say that the drones are causing us real problems in Pakistan and harming the democratic government we should be supporting.
Related posts:
On the ground, some Pakistanis feel like the use of drones is our way dealing with the “no foreign forces on our soil” issue. Their use – especially when they cause “collateral damage” – contributes to the perception that we are not working WITH the people of Pakistan to help them, rather we are just using that country as the theatre for our war against Al Qaeda. That’s why its no surprise that the government does not publicly acknowledge a tacit understanding.
Having said that, it probably does not make sense to take drones (and other strike options that may not be reported as publicly) off the table wholesale. While we certainly need to target better, we also need to do a better job of explaining how and why use of this equipment helps both the US and Pakistan.
Comment on November 21, 2008 @ 9:41 am