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In his first meeting with President Obama, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

read a carefully-worded statement asking for an end to American drone

strikes, even as new evidence emerged that Pakistan's leaders knew of

and participated in some of the attacks. The question is - which leaders,

and when did the executive branch know? And - does it even matter?

 

 

Progess for Nawaz: Drones, War Crimes and Sovereignty (The Daily Jang, Pakistan)

 

"This year has already seen a significant drop off in the number of drone attacks, and while that may not be the same as halting them altogether, it does show that Pakistan’s continuous focus on the issue may be making a difference. A period without drone attacks may also help the government convince the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan to come to the negotiating table and finally allow talks to commence."

 

EDITORIAL

 

October 26, 2013

 

Pakistan - The Daily Jang - Original Article (English)

A map showing the locations of predator drone strikes on Pakistan, between December 1, 2009 and January 21, 2010.

BRAVE NEW FOUNDATION DOCUMENTARY: 'Living Under Drones' - examing the damage to human lives, Sept. 24, 2012, 00:07:00RealVideo

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may have left the United States, but recriminations from his meeting with President Barack Obama continue to be heard, with the issue of drone attacks predictably sucking up most of the oxygen.

 

In a perfect storm of events, just as Nawaz landed in Washington, an Amnesty International report declared that some drone attacks could be considered war crimes. Nawaz then brought up the matter with Obama and declared in their meeting that that drone strikes must cease. Finally, a leak to The Washington Post suggested that Pakistan was complicit in allowing drone strikes to take place, at least between 2008-2011.

 

Now every other political actor is weighing in on the issue. Nawaz commented on the Amnesty International report, saying that while he doesn’t consider drone attacks to be synonymous with war crimes, he does believe they violate Pakistan's sovereignty. What constitutes a war crime is naturally a matter of debate between states and human rights bodies, but if you ask those who have lost family members and all hope for a normal life as a result of drone attacks, their answer is as clear as day. We stand with and for that clarity. What Nawaz has said of sovereignty is certainly true, but not if the government is secretly sanctioning drone strikes.

Posted By Worldmeets.US

 

Meanwhile, Information Minister Pervez Rasheed has declared that [former President] Pervez Musharraf will be put on trial for sanctioning drone attacks, a position that can only be justified if the PPP government [which lost the last election] is also held to account, and there is proof that the current PML-N government has done away with this two-faced policy. Even then, holding former rulers to account for privately supporting drone attacks, however wrong-headed that may be, will only complicate issues better resolved at the political level.

 

One benefit of all the chatter on drones is that it may finally have put the Obama Administration on the defensive. While the U.S. president refuses to admit that drone attacks are a violation of our sovereignty or that they cause too many civilian casualties, there are indications that America may consider a temporary pause in its drone campaign.

 

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This year has already seen a significant drop off in the number of drone attacks, and while that may not be the same as halting them altogether, it does show that Pakistan’s continuous focus on the issue may be making a difference. A period without drone attacks may also help the government convince the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan to come to the negotiating table and finally allow talks to commence.

 

However, slight U.S. flexibility in this area shouldn't be mistaken for a general softening. The United States is still pushing Pakistan to arrest Hafiz Saeed and ban the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Such pressure will not go down well here since Saeed, unsavory though he may be, directs most of his rhetoric and actions toward India, not the Americans. Still, we should expect no less from the United States, which will continue to believe it has the right to dictate to us even in matters that do not concern it directly. How strongly Nawaz resists this pressure may end up defining our future relations with the United States.

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:

FARS News Agency, Iran: Iran Takes '35-Year Leap' By Reverse Engineering U.S. Drone

Debka File, Israel: Big Fraud: Iran Gift to Russia Concealed Handoff of U.S. Drone Technology

Kayhan, Iran: American RQ-170 Drone Data 'Thoroughly Decoded'

FARS News, Iran: Iran Reveals Captured U.S. Drone Data to ‘Discourage’ Pentagon

El Tiempo, Colombia: Colombia Government Must Come Clean on Battle Drones

Al Wahdawi, Yemen: Yemen Must Defeat al-Qaeda with Less Help from U.S. Drones

Estadao, Brazil: Obama's Drones: Wrong Conclusions from bin Laden's Demise

The Frontier Post, Pakistan: Obama's Drone War a PR Disaster for America

The Nation, Pakistan: Drones Strikes: Unequal, Unethical and Unwise

Le Figaro, France: Pakistan Has its Reasons for Acting Like a 'Double Dealer'

FARS News, Iran: Revolutionary Guards Display Downed American Drone

La Jornada, Mexico: Senators and U.S. Drones: What Else are They Hiding?

The Nation, Pakistan: Downing American Drones: Iran Shows Pakistan the Way

Der Spiegel, Germany: Obama's Plan Reignites German Withdrawal Debate

Asia Times, Hong Kong: Obama 'Puts the Heat' on Pakistan

Telegraph, U.K.: Osama bin Laden hiding place visited by Taliban

Global Times, China: Western Criticism of Pakistan is Wrongheaded and Unfair

La Jornada, Mexico: Afghan Official Asserts: 'Osama Blew Himself Up'

Tehran Times, Iraq: West Uses bin Laden's Death to Distract from Bahrain Atrocities

Diario Decuyo, Argentina: Bin Laden's Death is a 'Call to Arms' for the World's Clergy
El Pais, Spain: After bin Laden: West Must Reflect on Methods of Self-Defense
News, Switzerland: The Pope and the Terrorist: Two Misguided Beatifications
Tagesspiegel, Germany: Osama Photo Issue - Obama's Morally Superior to Bush
The Nation, Pakistan: Afghan Official Asserts: 'Osama Blew Himself Up'
Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland: Finally, It's Beginning of the End for al-Qaeda
Al-Seyassah, Kuwait: Osama Now Being Licked by the 'Hottest Flames in Hell'
Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace, France: Osama's Photo: 'The Impossible Truth'
Der Spiegel, Germany: Donald Trump and the 2012 'Campaign of Lunacy'
Excelsior, Mexico: Obama Quiets 'Right-Wing Witch Hunters' ... for Now
Izvestia, Russia: Osama bin Laden: From Abbottabad to Hollywood
Frontier Post, Pakistan: U.S. Raid Exposes Pakistan's 'Unnerving Vulnerability'
Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia: Osama Died, But those Who Gain from Terror War Live
Dar al-Hayat, Saudi Arabia: Osama and His Whole Way of Thinking - are Dead
Daily Jang, Pakistan: Operation Against Osama Spells Trouble for Pakistan
Kayhan, Islamic Republic of Iran: Obama Seeks to 'Vindicate Bush'
Outlook Afghanistan: U.S. Must Pursue Mullah Omar as it did bin Laden
Pak Tribune, Pakistan: Senators Call U.S. Operation a Breach of Sovereignty
Frontier Post, Pakistan: Osama Episode Puts Safety of Nuke Assets in Peril

The Nation, Pakistan: Pakistanis will React Badly to Reopening NATO Routes

Le Monde, France: Pakistan and America: Preparing for a Timely ‘Divorce’

Frontier Post, Pakistan: Whistleblower Unravels America’s Afghan ‘Hoax’
FARS News, Iran: Revolutionary Guards Display Downed American Drone
La Jornada, Mexico:
Senators and U.S. Drones: What Else are They Hiding?
The Nation, Pakistan: Downing American Drones: Iran Shows Pakistan the Way
The Nation, Pakistan: Time for Pakistan to Down America's 'Bionic Dragons'
The Nation, Pakistan:
Cost of Friendship with America is Far Too High
The Nation, Pakistan:
'Sorry' Won't Wash Away NATO Crimes in Pakistan
The Daily Jang, Pakistan: Is Washington Behind Pakistan's 'Memogate'?
The Frontier Post, Pakistan: U.S. Withdrawal Plans 'Spell Doom' for Pakistan

 

 

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Posted By Worldmeets.US Oct. 28, 2013, 4:55am