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| India-Pakistan |
| US 'will continue' Pakistan drone attacks |
| 2011-04-21 |
| [Al Jazeera] The US will maintain its drone programme in Pakistan but the way forward will be determined by both sides, an unnamed US military official has said. The issue has been a bone of contention between the two nations, with some Pakistani officials calling for sharp cuts in drone attacks. "The [programme] is something that we have said we go ahead on. The question is how," the official said on condition of anonymity. "And that process is going to be something that's going to be one of the main tasks that our intel and our military guys have." The matter was raised last week in Washington in talks between Leon Panetta, the CIA director, and Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. "I'll pause from my normal optimism and say this is a tough one. This is a real tough one," the unidentified US official said. "Because that has been so inflamed in the public that the ability of our intelligence and our military guys to get together and say 'what's our common ground here?' is limited." Under pressure The long-running issue of the US drone strikes on targets in Pakistan's tribal areas has kept tensions high between the two countries regarding the US' role in the region. The covert drone-launched missile strikes that target fighters in Pakistan's lawless border areas have stoked anti-American sentiment among the populace, even though it is widely believed that the strikes occur with the tacit consent of Islamabad. Publicly, Pakistan's leaders have insisted that the drone strikes stop and that the US share the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology with Pakistan so that it can take operational control of them, but US officials say operations will continue in order to achieve US security objectives. US officials have privately said in the past that Washington would not consider demands by some Pakistani officials for sharp cuts in drone attacks. Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said the remarks about continued US drone attacks came as a surprise especially when the strikes are widely unpopular in Pakistan. "Right now the issue is being taken up even at the International Court of Justice because the government officials and some major leaders of religious parties are saying that the Americans have no mandate to cross into Pakistani sovereign territory," he said. "There is a lot of top talking to do and a lot of protests expected over the continued US policy on drone strikes." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 I think we show a picture of Mr. ten percent to a drone and let it loiter over the capital for a few days...maybe he'll come to his senses. Of course, ISI is so cancerous, anything to shift course and really go after the Taliban and their minions in Pakistain will get Mr. Gilani assassinated. |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2011-04-21 10:26 |