The US drone war in Pakistan has made gains in annihilating Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders, but Islamist violence on the ground is becoming deadlier and the program risks fanning the unrest.
While tens of thousands of US troops are fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, their presence is unwelcome in ally Pakistan and strikes by unmanned aircraft have become the main US combat tactic.
The Long War Journal, which tracks the strikes, says missiles have killed 15 senior al-Qaeda leaders, and 16 “mid-level” al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives since January 2008, as well as Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban.
Despite Mehsud’s death, TTP are killing more people than ever and al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden — believed to be sheltering along the Afghan-Pakistan border — remains at large.
Tribal experts fear drone attacks could spawn a long war of revenge.
“The way they are now attacking with their drones, trying to hit local militants — maybe local militants are not a big threat to America but in the future they could become a threat,” tribal expert Rahimullah Yusufzai said.
The tribal belt is barred to outsiders, communication links are poor and militants are said to impose a reign of fear, making the cost of the drone attacks and their long-term impact impossible to assess.
Local residents in North Waziristan — a district where 22 of the last 24 attacks have struck — said families lived in fear over the prospect of a missile annihilating their home without warning.
Yet speaking from Mir Ali, one of the main towns in the district, one shopkeeper said the drones did appear to have deterred foreign fighters.
“There seems to be only one advantage — the number of foreigners who used to roam markets in the region freely has reduced considerably,” Noor Mohammad said.
Militants exploit drone attacks to recruit and there are fears that Pakistan’s perceived role undercuts its own counter-insurgency campaign against radicals.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has warned that drone attacks undermine national consensus in “the war on militancy.”
“Drone attacks are radicalizing other people who may not have supported the Taliban,” Yusufzai said.
Lisa Curtis, a research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the Obama administration had little choice but to rely on drones.
“The long-term costs are that it’s raising anti-Americanism in Pakistan, which in turn makes it more difficult for us to cooperate with Pakistan,” she said.
Samina Ahmed, an analyst for the International Crisis Group, said US tactics had yet to spark major protests and cautioned against exaggerating the current impact for the civilian government.
“If there were drone attacks on urban centers, major civilian casualties, there would be a public outcry,” she said. “It would become a major challenge to the Pakistan military and the Pakistan government.”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese