In January US drones kill 123 civilians 3 Al Qaeda

These numbers should probably be taken with a grain of salt but they are probably closer to the truth than many of the mainstream US reports that just claim so many militants were killed, period, end of story! It is not surprising that anti-US feeling in Pakistan is reaching a boiling point. The more civilians are killed the better the chances militants have of recruiting new converts. There seems to be little opposition to the use of drones in the US but then they do not cause any US civilian casualties.


This is from thenews(Pakistan)


US drones killed 123 civilians, three al-Qaeda men in January



By Amir Mir

LAHORE: Afghanistan-based US predators carried out a record number of 12 deadly missile strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan in January 2010, of which 10 went wrong and failed to hit their targets, killing 123 innocent Pakistanis. The remaining two successful drone strikes killed three al-Qaeda leaders, wanted by the Americans.

The rapid increase in the US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan can be gauged from the fact that only two such strikes were carried out in January 2009, which killed 36 people. The highest number of drone attacks carried out in a single month in 2009 was six, which were conducted in December last year. But the dawn of the New Year has already seen a dozen such attacks.

The unprecedented rise in the predator strikes with the beginning of the year 2010 is being attributed to December 30, 2009 suicide bombing in the Khost area of Afghanistan bordering North Waziristan, which killed seven CIA agents. US officials later identified the bomber as Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian national linked to both al-Qaeda and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

In a subsequent posthumous video tape released by Al-Jazeera, Balawi claimed while sitting next to TTP Chief Commander Hakimullah Mehsud that he would blow himself up in the CIA base to avenge the killing of former TTP chief Baitullah Mehsud in a US drone attack. The consequent increase in US strikes, first in North Waziristan and then South Waziristan, specifically targeting the fugitive TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud clearly shows that revenge is the major motive for these attacks. The US intelligence sleuths stationed in Afghanistan are convinced the Khost suicide attack was planned in Waziristan with the help of the TTP. Therefore, it is believed Afghanistan-based American drones will continue to hunt the most wanted al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, especially Hakimullah, with a view to avenge the loss of the seven CIA agents and to raise morale of its forces in Afghanistan.

According to the data compiled by the interior ministry, the first US drone strike was conducted on January 1 which struck a vehicle near Ghundikala village in North Waziristan and killed four people. The second attack came on January 3, targeting the Mosakki village in North Waziristan, killing five people. Two separate missile strikes carried out on January 6 killed 35 people in Sanzalai village of North Waziristan. The fifth predator attack was carried out on January 8 in the Tappi village of North Waziristan, killing five people. The sixth attack on January 9 in Ismail Khan village of North Waziristan killed four people, including two al-Qaeda leaders. Mahmoud Mehdi Zeidan, the bodyguard for al-Qaeda leader Sayeed al-Masri, and Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, who had been involved in hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in 1986, were reportedly killed in this missile strike.

The seventh US attack on January 14 in the Pasalkot village of North Waziristan killed 15 people, amidst rumours Hakimullah Mehsud could be among the dead.

The eighth drone attack came on January 15 in the Zannini village near Mir Ali in North Waziristan, killing 14 people, including an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist, Abdul Basit Usman, a Filipino wanted by the Americans. The ninth strike was carried out on January 17 in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan, which killed 23 people. The tenth drone attack came on January 19 when two missiles were fired at a compound and vehicle in Booya village of Datakhel subdivision, 35km west of Miramshah, in North Waziristan, killing eight people. The eleventh strike carried out on January 29 targeting a compound belonging to the Haqqani network in the Muhammad Khel town of North Waziristan, killed six people. The twelfth and the last predator attack of the month came on January 30, killing nine people in the Lend Mohammad Khel area of North Waziristan.

U.S> senators defend Pakistan drone attacks

There is never any discussion of the morality or legality of the use of drones among Americans or most Americans. The issue is only whether they work or not. Most critics simply note that the attacks may be counterproductive since they turn civilians against the US. However the US is already so unpopular in Pakistan that it probably doesn't matter to the US. What will Pakistan do anyway. It is heavily dependent on the US and would no doubt be bankrupt without US aid and the military also depends upon the US for weapons and supplies. Eventually, Pakistan could face an uprising or perhaps another military takeover.

U.S. senators defend Pakistan drone attacks
Michael Georgy

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. senators on Friday defended American drone aircraft strikes in ally Pakistan, an issue likely to become more volatile if Washington intensifies the attacks to hunt down enemies after the bombing of CIA agents in Afghanistan.


Pakistan officially objects to the attacks on suspected al Qaeda and Taliban militants along its border with Afghanistan, saying they violate its sovereignty.

And Islamabad has pushed Washington to provide it with the drones to allow it to carry out its own attacks on Taliban insurgents, a move that could ease widespread anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.

"We don't agree on every issue. We believe that, as I have stated and as our government has stated, that it is one of many tools that we must use to try to defeat a very determined and terrible enemy," said U.S. Senator John McCain.

The United States has stepped up its attacks with pilotless drone aircraft attacks in Pakistan since a double agent blew himself up at a U.S. base in Afghanistan on December 30, killing seven CIA agents.

A drone strike on Friday evening, the sixth in the lawless North Waziristan region on the Afghan border since December 30, killed two militants, Pakistani security officials said.

The attack on the CIA was a huge intelligence failure and will pile pressure on the United States to kill high-profile militants based along the Afghan-Pakistan frontier.

The United States sees the drones as a highly effective weapon in a global hub for militants. The strikes have killed some prominent al Qaeda militants.

Many al Qaeda and Taliban members fled to northwestern Pakistan's ungoverned ethnic Pashtun belt after U.S.-led forces ousted Afghanistan's Taliban government in 2001. From there they have orchestrated insurgencies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan has not objected to drone strikes that have killed militants fighting the Pakistani state, such as Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud.

But Pakistan does oppose strikes on strategic regional assets such as the Afghan Haqqani militant group, which had ties with Pakistan's ISI spy agency and would give it leverage in Afghanistan if the country is gripped by chaos again.

STRATEGIC COMPLEXITIES

At the same time the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani group is high on the U.S. hit list, and speculation is growing it may have been linked to the bomb attack on the CIA, illustrating the complexities and sensitivities in U.S.-Pakistani ties.

The drone issue was raised when a delegation of U.S. senators led by McCain met President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday. They have also met the prime minister, as well as army chief general Ashfaq Kayani. He is the pivotal figure because the military makes security decisions and effectively sets foreign policy.

Drone attacks are a politically charged issue between the United States and Pakistan, which Washington sees as the front-line state in its war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Pakistan fears the strikes could undermine efforts to deal with militancy because the civilian casualties inflame public anger and bolster support for the fighters.

Asked if he had the same concerns, McCain told reporters:

"There are elements operating in Pakistan that if allowed to do so would go to Afghanistan and kill Americans and destroy that government and re-establish Afghanistan as a base for attacks on the United States and our allies. That's what I understand."

The United States carried out 51 drone air strikes in Pakistan last year, killing about 460 people, including many foreign militants, according to a tally of reports from Pakistani officials and residents.

McCain suggested no other options were under consideration in the event that the drone strikes failed to deliver. Asked if he would support U.S. ground operations on Pakistani soil, McCain said he had never been briefed on that.

"I think it would have to be done in coordination and in agreement with the Pakistani government and military," he said.

Pakistan's reluctance to go after the Haqqani network, whose leader worked with the CIA in the 1980s against Soviet occupation troops in Afghanistan, has strained ties with Washington.

The U.S. embassy has accused Pakistan of taking provocative action and making false allegations against U.S. personnel. U.S. officials say Pakistan is also stalling their visa applications.

"We would like to see it resolved," said McCain.

Al Qaeda's Afghan wing claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, the second-most deadly attack in CIA history, saying it was revenge for the deaths of militant leaders, including Mehsud, who was killed in a drone attack. His death had not eased a raging Taliban insurgency grip

US surgical drones strikes are 12.5 per cent accurate

Although these are surgical strikes according to the official spin the surgeon strikes the wrong victim about seven out of eight times. In the US everyone gets excited if a doctor takes off the wrong leg just once but at least that doctor did not kill his victim. It seems to cause little fuss not only that the drone is judge and executioner without any trial but that innocent people are often killed. What on earth is wrong with people. Imagine if authorities used drones within the USA to target criminals and as a result killed 7 inn0cent people for every criminal eliminate. Drone attacks would never begin yet alone be increased. This is from presstv.

In Pakistan, more civilians fall victim to US drones


The civilian mortalities from US missile attacks on the Pakistani soil in 2009 indicate a threefold increase in compared to the previous year.

Using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones to carry out the attacks, the US Central Intelligence Agency, in cooperation with the Pentagon, are responsible for more than 700 civilian deaths in Pakistan this year, reports say.

In 2008, there were 32 strikes that killed about 240 people, according to Reuters. The attacks in 2009, meanwhile, had a mere 12.5 percent accuracy in targeting the supposed militants in Pakistan's northwestern tribal area, raising questions about the efficiency of the method.

The attacks, believed to be initiated from airbases located inside Pakistan's territory, have also played a strong role in the growing anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.

The CIA is accused of ignoring legal and moral principles in its running of deadly operations against civilians on a sovereign soil.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the attacks are hailed as a 'surgical' counterinsurgency tool. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi recently condemned the attacks as "counterproductive and unhelpful."

The latest round of the attacks left some seven people dead in the northwestern area of North Waziristan over the past two days.

US Pakistan drone strikes

This is from antiwar.com.



More of Obama's new beginnings, the same old policies as Bush. The Pakistani govt. is being put in an embarassing position just when it is already weak and attacked for being in the pocket of the US. However, a deal with the Taliban in the SWAT area was reached just recently. This will make the US angry no doubt. If the US pays now attention to Pakistan in what they do it stands to reason that Pakistan may return the compliment. Pakistan probably feels it is better to annoy the US than to start a civil war or be thrown out of power by its own people.







US Drone Strike Kills At Least 30 in South Waziristan
Official Says More Buried Under Rubble of Destroyed House
Posted February 14, 2009
A US drone launched two missiles at a large house in South Waziristan this morning, killing at least 30 and wounding seven others. A Pakistani intelligence official is quoted as saying more people are believed to be buried under the rubble.
At least 50 people were in the house at the time of the attacks, mostly Uzbeks and Arabs believed to be fighters for the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The compound reportedly was frequented by Baitullah Mehsud, a top Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader, though he does not appear to have been present during the attack.
The timing of the attack sends a clear message to the Pakistani government, which had been hoping yesterday that President Obama would reveal his “new strategy” with respect to the drones soon.
The large death toll will likely also bring uncomfortable attention to the comments by Senator Dianne Feinstein, who claimed that the drones were being “flown out of a Pakistani base”. With the Pakistani government officially complaining about the attacks amid public outrage, such a revelation would likely further destabilize an already floundering Pakistani government.

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