U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan against-productive

Drone attacks on American targets and terrorist networks in Pakistan are against-productive, says a report from Stanford and New York recently published as relays, Tuesday, September 25, the British newspaper The Guardian .

This study, based on interviews with victims, witnesses and experts, criticizes President Barack Obama for the escalation strikes targeted where terrorist groups are selected through an analysis simply away from their threat.

Indeed, these unmanned vehicles are driven away, as shown Le Monde diplomatique : "On several thousands of kilometers away from the base of Creech in Nevada (USA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ) control drones. A confined space filled with screens, each with a keyboard and a joystick (joystick video) ... It's in a sanitized and safe for drivers that are led these devices. along with their end and rounded at the front fuselage to accommodate a satellite antenna, wings narrow and inclined drifts back, these devices resemble insects disturbing. " This poses many problems.

FEAR OF AN ERRONEOUS INTERPRETATION

The result of such strikes is that Pakistani families "are afraid to attend weddings or funerals, the fact that American ground running these drones could misinterpret these gatherings as those of Taliban militants or Al-Qaeda, "the report said.

Another doubt, the report says, is the supposed "surgical" and "collateral effects minimized" U.S. drone strikes in the "land of the pure."

The report finds that this argument is "false". Admittedly, it is difficult to assess civilian casualties due to strikes in North Waziristan because of the difficulty of obtaining accurate data, because the program is typing obscure and largely hidden. But according overlap, between 2562 and 3325 people were killed in Pakistan between June 2004 and mid-September 2012, with between 474 and 881 civilians, including 176 children.

This record shows that the side effects are very real. In addition, the permanent presence of drones over Pakistani territory, which act without warning, "terrorizing the population men, women and children, causing anxiety and psychological sequelae among civilian populations."

CONTRARY TO RESULT EXPECTED EFFECT

For the Obama administration, which has continued and intensified the use of drones to destroy terrorist groups, the results are convincing. As emphasized Le Monde diplomatique : "If they peaked in 2010 (117 attacks a year, according to The Long War Journal), attacks by unmanned aircraft remain intense in the tribal areas of Pakistan in 2012. Activists of Al-Qaida, the Afghan Taliban and Pakistani drones ... lead to lower cost, a permanent war to the insurgents. disappearance And the number one enemy of Pakistan is the most blatant example of the success of this strategy, which has also hit several targets 'high value'. Much like the announcement by the White House in June 2012, the death of number two of Al Qaeda, Abu Yahya al-Libi. "

However, the study cited by The Guardian draws conclusions diametrically opposed. First, the number of activists of "high level", that is to say high-ranking officials were killed by these strikes is very low. It is estimated that just 2% of deaths. Moreover, the strikes have facilitated the recruitment of terrorist groups and others motivated attacks against U.S. and ISAF in Afghanistan. And the report refers to "another study showing that 74% of Pakistanis now regard the United States as an enemy."