From US with love!
Ayesha Zee Khan
Wednesday, June 20, 2012 - After the OBL operation in Pakistan on May 2nd 2011 relations between the US and Pakistan have been worst in the history of these two nations. As the frontline ally of this “GWOT” Pakistan suffered mainly in terms of its repute ( by portraying it either an accomplice or incompetent to the world community), cost in expense and loss of lives. Pakistan’s territory has been violated not just in “Operation Geronimo” but innumerable times due to the unmanned aerial vehicles or UAV’s which have killed innocent civilians and angered the tribal people of that area. The country stood worth blaming despite the fact that arrest of all top Al-Qaeda leadership was only possible with the help and support of Pakistan army and the ISI.
In this situation whether really the death of Osama has achieved the target of a more than a decade long war or not (it has lasted longer than WW1 & WW2), whose cost of sending troops in Afghanistan is more than 400 billion dollars. After the Salala check-post attack on Pakistan by NATO forces in which two dozen Pakistan army jawans were martyred (November 2011), without due apologies US unleashes its wrath upon the citizens of Northern Pakistan with more Drone attacks with love! The Obama administration has let out the CIA to resume an aggressive campaign of drone strikes in Pakistani territory over the last few weeks, approving strikes that might have been vetoed in the past for fear of angering Islamabad.
Lets forget the CIA’s black prisons, rendition, water-boarding, and the torture of the innocents in the jails of our friendly dictators for a while. Technically, CIA individuals are not part of the USarmed forces, are not subject to military command structure, and do not wear uniforms. Under international law, they are therefore civilians directly participating in hostilities, much like the very fighters whom they target! Under IHL, such individuals may be targeted as combatants; such persons lose immunity from prosecution for crimes under domestic laws—meaning Pakistan could prosecute them for murder.
Pakistan blocked truck convoys hauling NATO war supplies. The US initially halted all drone strikes for two months to ease Pakistani sensitivities, the attacks resumed only sporadically after mid-January. By May, Pakistani officials were signaling a willingness to reopen the supply route to resurrect relations. It is worth noting: The US is withholding at least $3 billion in reimbursements for counterin surgency operations and security-related funding, according to congressional aides and Pakistani officials. After the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Pakistan allowed NATO supplies to be transported through its territory at no charge. It later levied a $250 charge per truck. Islamabad now wants between: $2500-$5000 per truck to reopen the road, a toll US officials refuse to pay.
The White House has authorized an expansion of the CIA’s drone program in Pakistan’s tribal areas, officials said this week, to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. American officials are talking with Pakistan about the possibility of striking in Balochistan for the first time: A controversial move since it is outside the tribal areas as that is where Afghan Taliban leaders are believed to hide.
US drones have struck targets in Pakistan an estimated 140 times since 2004, from 2004 to 2007, the CIA carried out only a handful of strikes. But pressure from the Congressional intelligence committees, greater confidence in the technology and reduced resistance from Pakistan led to a sharp increase starting in the summer of 2008.
The US is not at war with Pakistan, yet conducts air strikes in its territory on a near daily basis. Both the US-Air Force & CIA have conducted operations in Pakistani air space, with some missions originating in Afghanistan & others from inside Pakistan. In 2006, images of Predator drones stationed at Shamsi Air Base in Pakistan were found on Google Earth. In 2009, The New York Times reported that operatives from Xe Services (the Black water), had taken over the task of arming Predator drones at the CIA’s hidden bases in Pakistan & Afghanistan.
According to the Guardian UK, “It is easy to understand how the CIA slaughtered innocent victims. Those who press the Hellfire buttons are 8,000 miles away in Nevada and are dependent on local “intelligence”. Just as with Guantánamo Bay, the CIA is paying bounties to those who will identify “terrorists”. Five thousand dollars is an enormous sum for a Waziri informant, translating to perhaps £250,000 in London terms. The informant has a calculation to make: is it safer to place a GPS tag on the car of a truly dangerous terrorist, or to call down death on a Nobody reporting that he is a militant?
With Osama’s death, Obama declared that, “world has been saved’ but he was wrong in his thinking, because “Pakistan became more insecure’ with extremism rising at record high in the country & abroad. Therefore, those who think that Pakistan’s significance have been elevated, they are perhaps wrong, because America has defamed Pakistan in this so-called “operation”. If it was not a planned drama, and carries any truth, America and NATO forces must leave Afghanistan.
In this situation whether really the death of Osama has achieved the target of a more than a decade long war or not (it has lasted longer than WW1 & WW2), whose cost of sending troops in Afghanistan is more than 400 billion dollars. After the Salala check-post attack on Pakistan by NATO forces in which two dozen Pakistan army jawans were martyred (November 2011), without due apologies US unleashes its wrath upon the citizens of Northern Pakistan with more Drone attacks with love! The Obama administration has let out the CIA to resume an aggressive campaign of drone strikes in Pakistani territory over the last few weeks, approving strikes that might have been vetoed in the past for fear of angering Islamabad.
Lets forget the CIA’s black prisons, rendition, water-boarding, and the torture of the innocents in the jails of our friendly dictators for a while. Technically, CIA individuals are not part of the USarmed forces, are not subject to military command structure, and do not wear uniforms. Under international law, they are therefore civilians directly participating in hostilities, much like the very fighters whom they target! Under IHL, such individuals may be targeted as combatants; such persons lose immunity from prosecution for crimes under domestic laws—meaning Pakistan could prosecute them for murder.
Pakistan blocked truck convoys hauling NATO war supplies. The US initially halted all drone strikes for two months to ease Pakistani sensitivities, the attacks resumed only sporadically after mid-January. By May, Pakistani officials were signaling a willingness to reopen the supply route to resurrect relations. It is worth noting: The US is withholding at least $3 billion in reimbursements for counterin surgency operations and security-related funding, according to congressional aides and Pakistani officials. After the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Pakistan allowed NATO supplies to be transported through its territory at no charge. It later levied a $250 charge per truck. Islamabad now wants between: $2500-$5000 per truck to reopen the road, a toll US officials refuse to pay.
The White House has authorized an expansion of the CIA’s drone program in Pakistan’s tribal areas, officials said this week, to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. American officials are talking with Pakistan about the possibility of striking in Balochistan for the first time: A controversial move since it is outside the tribal areas as that is where Afghan Taliban leaders are believed to hide.
US drones have struck targets in Pakistan an estimated 140 times since 2004, from 2004 to 2007, the CIA carried out only a handful of strikes. But pressure from the Congressional intelligence committees, greater confidence in the technology and reduced resistance from Pakistan led to a sharp increase starting in the summer of 2008.
The US is not at war with Pakistan, yet conducts air strikes in its territory on a near daily basis. Both the US-Air Force & CIA have conducted operations in Pakistani air space, with some missions originating in Afghanistan & others from inside Pakistan. In 2006, images of Predator drones stationed at Shamsi Air Base in Pakistan were found on Google Earth. In 2009, The New York Times reported that operatives from Xe Services (the Black water), had taken over the task of arming Predator drones at the CIA’s hidden bases in Pakistan & Afghanistan.
According to the Guardian UK, “It is easy to understand how the CIA slaughtered innocent victims. Those who press the Hellfire buttons are 8,000 miles away in Nevada and are dependent on local “intelligence”. Just as with Guantánamo Bay, the CIA is paying bounties to those who will identify “terrorists”. Five thousand dollars is an enormous sum for a Waziri informant, translating to perhaps £250,000 in London terms. The informant has a calculation to make: is it safer to place a GPS tag on the car of a truly dangerous terrorist, or to call down death on a Nobody reporting that he is a militant?
With Osama’s death, Obama declared that, “world has been saved’ but he was wrong in his thinking, because “Pakistan became more insecure’ with extremism rising at record high in the country & abroad. Therefore, those who think that Pakistan’s significance have been elevated, they are perhaps wrong, because America has defamed Pakistan in this so-called “operation”. If it was not a planned drama, and carries any truth, America and NATO forces must leave Afghanistan.
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