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dipsydoodle

(42,239 posts)
Sat Mar 3, 2012, 06:27 AM Mar 2012

Protests grow as civilian toll of Obama’s drone war on terrorism is laid bare

One lost a son and brother, killed by a missile that tore from the sky as they sat talking with others; one man’s father was among those who died when a missile hit a tribal gathering. Another man, a wage labourer, was in the local bazaar when he heard his father was also among the dozens killed in the same incident.

These individuals and their stories represent the collateral damage of America’s drone missile programme in Pakistan, a covert CIA operation that has been conducted largely out of sight and beyond scrutiny.

Earlier this year, in his first public comment on the programme, President Barack Obama claimed the operations involved “precision strikes” against anti-American targets. “A lot of these strikes have been in [Pakistan’s tribal areas],” he said. “For the most part, they’ve been very precise precision strikes against al-Qa’ida and their affiliates, and we’re very careful in terms of how it’s been applied.”

But increasingly, campaigners are pointing out the civilian cost of the operations, which are deeply unpopular and a source of widespread anti-Americanism despite the suspicion that Pakistan’s military co-operates. They say that, while the US insists only “suspected militants” are targeted, there is mounting evidence ordinary people are among the victims. “There has to be some transparency, some rules and regulations,” said Mirza Shahzad Akbar, who heads the Foundation for Fundamental Rights, an Islamabad-based NGO. “I don’t believe the US is going to give up its drones worldwide…but the CIA is acting on its own, without any accountability. For an educated Pakistani such as myself, who speaks out against extremism, it’s very hard when you see the example set by the developed world.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/protests-grow-as-civilian-toll-of-obamas-drone-war-on-terrorism-is-laid-bare-7494409.html

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