“Whoever among you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand [by taking action]; if he cannot, then with his tongue [by speaking out]; and if he cannot, then with his heart [by hating it and feeling that it is wrong] – and that is the weakest of faith” (Narrated by Muslim, 49)
HITLER GHADAAR ZARDARI AND HIS NAUKAR ORDERS MARCH TO BE STOPPED FROM GOING TO KOT KAI WAZIRISTAN: SON OF PAKISTAN IMRAN KHAN FIGHT
Drones ‘terrorising’ Pakistani civilians
* Report says drones giving rise to anxiety, psychological trauma among people
ISLAMABAD: The US campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt is terrorising civilians 24 hours a day and breeding bitter anti-American sentiment, researchers said on Tuesday.
ZARDARI AND KAYANI LISTEN TO THEIR MASTER’S VOICE ORDERS ANTI-DRONE MARCH TO BE STOPPED AT TANK
The attacks have killed thousands of people since they began in June 2004, according to the report by experts from Stanford Law School and the New York University School of Law.
Aside from casualties, the “Living Under Drones” report said, the missile strikes are affecting daily life in the tribal areas, making people unwilling to gather in groups and even stopping their children going to school for fear of being targeted.
After attacks, rescuers are unwilling to help the wounded for fear of being hit by follow-up missiles, said the report commissioned by UK-based charity Reprieve, which campaigns against drone strikes.
“Drones hover twenty-four hours a day over communities in northwest Pakistan, striking homes, vehicles, and public spaces without warning,” the report said.
“Their presence terrorises men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities. Those living under drones have to face the constant worry that a deadly strike may be fired at any moment, and the knowledge that they are powerless to protect themselves.”
The report urged Washington to rethink its drone strategy, arguing it was counterproductive and undermined international law.
Based on media reports and interviews with residents of North Waziristan, one of the areas most heavily targeted by drones, the research said the US conception of the campaign as a “surgically precise and effective tool that makes the US safer” was false.
Soon the full horror of drone attacks will be exposed
Our march into Waziristan should reveal truths thus far hidden from the world’s gaze
- Clive Stafford Smith
Each iteration of the “War on Terror” has depended on secrecy for success. Not success in the conventional sense: the lawless prison in Guantánamo Bay, the secret prisons of Eastern Europe and rendering prisoners furtively to Colonel Gaddafi were hardly sensible policies. But as long as the strategy remained under wraps, the politicians were able to pretend that they were “doing something” about terrorism.
The problems always came when the truth began to leak out. The Guantánamo detainees were not, after all, the “worst of the worst” terrorists: indeed, 88 per cent (686 out of 779) were cleared for release without trial. The Eastern European torture chambers acquired no vital intelligence. Tony Blair’s policy of leaping into bed with Gaddafi served only to delay the Arab Spring.
Thus it will be with drones. The US advertises that it is the most effective of weapons against terrorism. Perhaps, instead, we will learn that it provokes far more extremism than it eliminates.
On Sunday I shall be travelling with Imran Khan, the politician and former cricketer, on an expedition with journalists into Waziristan, in northwest Pakistan — a step towards opening the region up to public inspection. Local chieftains, the Pakistan Army and even the Taleban have all assured our safe passage. Which leaves the US and some of its wayward allies in Pakistan’s Secret Intelligence Service — frankly, the ones who concern me most.
I have written to President Obama letting him know about the march. Indeed, Mr Obama will have signed off on his most recent “kill list” and I asked him to make sure there was no Hellfire missile with my name on it. According to the choreographed leaks to The New York Times, designed to burnish the tough-guy image of this “Drone Age President”, each week he checks through a Powerpoint display of those slated for assassination and — after contemplating the Just War principles of Thomas Aquinas — he gives an imperial thumbs down to those who the CIA says are the gladiators of Waziristan.
So what are we to do? We could call off the march and stay at home. Could any of us, after all, pick out Kot Kai on a map? But ultimately we have only two options: to stand with the innocent victims of drones, or to leave them to their fate. The people of Waziristan, all 800,000 of them, have lived with their fears for eight years now. It is time we drew it to a close.
Soon, drones are going to be intruding on the lives of us all. And when it is our turn to be targeted, who will stand with us?
Clive Stafford Smith is the director of Reprieve
