Americans start asking about Predators in Pakistan

[fatman17]

Pakistan: Now or Never?
Perspectives on Pakistan

March 27th, 2008

Americans start asking about Predators in Pakistan
by: Myra MacDonald

“Over the past two months, U.S.-controlled Predator aircraft are known to have struck at least three sites used by al-Qaeda operatives,” it says. “The moves followed a tacit understanding with (President Pervez) Musharraf and Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kiyani that allows U.S. strikes on foreign fighters operating in Pakistan, but not against the Pakistani Taliban.”

Stories of missile attacks by unmanned CIA-operated Predator drones in Pakistan are not new, and nor indeed is Pakistani anger at what it sees as a violation of its sovereignty. In early February I highlighted a story by the Pakistani journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai in The News saying that the American policy of hitting targets inside Pakistan had now become “the norm than the exception”. Neither U.S. nor Pakistani authorities officially confirm U.S. missile attacks on Pakistani territory.

What is new is the amount of attention the missile attacks are now gaining, particularly in the United States. It’s worth reading the comments on the Washington Post article – 161 of them when I last looked — to see how many people are learning about them for the first time.

Some comments give credit to Senator Barack Obama for suggesting targeted attacks on Al Qaeda militants in Pakistan — an idea he repeated this month, as I noted in a previous entry on this subject. As far as I know, the Predator attacks — including one in Bajaur Agency in January 2006 that was reported to have killed up to 18 people, including women and children — started before Obama suggested the idea. But he does seem to have got people talking about them.

So here is the question. If the American public is now waking up to the notion that the United States is launching missile attacks in Pakistan, will that affect U.S. policy? Will it become a U.S. election issue? And what does it mean for Pakistan and its new government?

 

[maqsad]

I hope it does become a scandal bigger than Gitmo and Abu Ghraib. These sickos in the CIA need to be exposed for the blackmailing twofaced backstabbing war criminals that they really are. Hopefully it will also generate some sympathy for pakistani civilians and counteract the vicious sneaky propaganda also present in the US media which portrays pakistanis as "terrorist sympathizers".

 

[SPI]

Knowing Americans they will care less about what predators are doing in pakistan air space.

 

[MastanKhan]

Hi,

There will be no sympathy for pakistani civilian losses---pakistanis donot have the ability to make a successful sales pitch for their causes---as a matter of fact pakistanis have a habbit of coming out as the aggressors---even thoug they are the victims---it is just beacuse of a lack of understanding, a mental block in learning how to act like a victim, not manipulating the situation to their advantage, not using the media and news to work for them on the world platform.

In order for the world to sympathise with you---they need to look at you as their friend---if they don't know you as their friend, there will be no permanent warm spots for you in their hearts. You would continuously need to remind them of your relation with them and act accordingly.

Pakistan should have realized five years ago where this war was headed. The longer this war goes on, pakistan will lose more---a loss is an integral function and part of a conflict---and a conflict, which is entering its sixth year and still no end in sight---the fall out is going to be worse for pakistan---the problems will arise out of the EXIT POLICY---which is where we are heading into right now---.

I am going to go out on a limb and make a statement---five years from now---where pakistan would be---if pakistanis had the fore-sight and vision to see the time acoming and the terrible things happening to them---they would have wanted to go back in time, gather all the foreigners, Bin Laden, Al Z and others, kill them and hoist them up on spikes and poles to set an example for other radicals not to come to pakistan. We have a habbit of saying ---'I wish we had done that earlier'---'I didnot see it coming'---'I wish I had known earlier that my family would die by one of these suicide bombers, I would have killed the bomber myself when I had the oppurtunity'.

I will name that day as the " I WISH DAY " ---whence most will be lost and we will rue the missed oppurtunities we had.

 

[Energon]

^^ MK, I think the problem runs far deeper. Like it or not, there are many in Pakistan who see the perpetrators as the beholders of the true Islamic faith; and whenever you put faith into the equation things like logic and reasoning go right out of the window. It may not be fare, but it is the reality nonetheless.

I think the only way out of this is for Pakistanis themselves to finally accept that terrorism/radicalism etc has nothing positive to offer and that people who adhere to these pathological ideologies need to be extricated from the national collective.

In the meanwhile the US will keep bombing.

 

[maqsad]

According to Ghinwa Bhutto American officials have already been dictating to the new government what needs to be done and who should be in power and who should not be in power.

But I don't see how Ghinwa Bhutto can say the PPP has always been against this type of relationship because Benazir made so many backroom deals(supposedly) with the US to get pushed back in power.

LARKANA: US accused of meddling in govt formation



By Our Correspondent
​

LARKANA, March 27: “The US is interfering in the formation of new government in Pakistan and the PPP-led government will retain foreign policy of former setup,” said Pakistan Peoples Party (Shaheed Bhutto) Chairperson Ghinwa Bhutto.

“The visit of US Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher to Pakistan and their meeting with politicians is a proof of it”, she said in a statement.

The government was trying to conceal actual agenda of their visit and giving false impression by saying the Parliament will be sovereign and it will take all decisions, she said.

“These officials arrived before the formation of Cabinet which indicates the US nod on names and portfolios,” she said.

She said the constituting government in the name of ‘moderation’ under a ‘deal’ by Asif Zardari will protect what she called the US ill-intentions and agenda of expansionism in the region.

She said new rulers like the past one, putting country’s integrity at stake, would continue pro-American domestic and foreign policy and added PPP (SB) would continue opposing such policies with the help of masses.

LARKANA: US accused of meddling in govt formation -DAWN - Local; March 28, 2008

 

[SPI]

Hi,

There will be no sympathy for pakistani civilian losses---pakistanis donot have the ability to make a successful sales pitch for their causes---as a matter of fact pakistanis have a habbit of coming out as the aggressors---even thoug they are the victims---it is just beacuse of a lack of understanding, a mental block in learning how to act like a victim, not manipulating the situation to their advantage, not using the media and news to work for them on the world platform.

In order for the world to sympathise with you---they need to look at you as their friend---if they don't know you as their friend, there will be no permanent warm spots for you in their hearts. You would continuously need to remind them of your relation with them and act accordingly.

Pakistan should have realized five years ago where this war was headed. The longer this war goes on, pakistan will lose more---a loss is an integral function and part of a conflict---and a conflict, which is entering its sixth year and still no end in sight---the fall out is going to be worse for pakistan---the problems will arise out of the EXIT POLICY---which is where we are heading into right now---.

I am going to go out on a limb and make a statement---five years from now---where pakistan would be---if pakistanis had the fore-sight and vision to see the time acoming and the terrible things happening to them---they would have wanted to go back in time, gather all the foreigners, Bin Laden, Al Z and others, kill them and hoist them up on spikes and poles to set an example for other radicals not to come to pakistan. We have a habbit of saying ---'I wish we had done that earlier'---'I didnot see it coming'---'I wish I had known earlier that my family would die by one of these suicide bombers, I would have killed the bomber myself when I had the oppurtunity'.

I will name that day as the " I WISH DAY " ---whence most will be lost and we will rue the missed oppurtunities we had.

I think you are so right. War cost money and disrepution to society. In this five or six years the growth of pakistan would be different, if it was not fighting the terroistic war. What I see in Pakistan is that the politician are more worried about us back war to terroism then actual growth of economy and betterment.