Death of al-Qaeda Leader May Raise Support for Drone Attacks

[dkf]

One of Pakistan’s most wanted militant commanders, Ilyas Kashmiri, was killed in an American drone strike in the tribal territory of South Waziristan, the New York Times reports, although Pakistani and American officials remain unable to confirm his death. Kashmiri was suspected of being behind attacks including the May 22 battle at the Mehran naval base in Karachi, and the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, India, in which at least 163 people were killed, including some American citizens.

According to the Times, Kashmiri's death "could go some way to alleviating the strained relations" between Pakistan and the U.S., particularly after the covert raid on Osama bin Laden. At the time, Pakistan accused the U.S. of pursuing its own agenda in Pakistan without coordinating with Pakistani security forces. But Kashmiri was wanted by both countries and could have been a good target for renewed intelligence sharing.

The Wall Street Journal reports that this "coup for the U.S." could also help backers of drone strikes in the U.S. government "push back against calls from some Obama administration officials to scale back the attacks," because they are widely hated by Pakistanis, who see them as a violation of sovereignty. Opposition to the strikes grew this year after a CIA contractor shot and killed two Pakistanis in the street. On the other hand, Kashmiri's death may shine a light on potential behind-the-scenes cooperation between Pakistan and the U.S. in drone attacks. While Pakistani leaders publicly criticize the attacks, Al-Jazeera reports that analysts say "killing high-value targets like Kashmiri would not be possible without Pakistani intelligence."

People in Pakistan continue to be "angry" about the unpopular attacks. On Saturday, there was a public protest in Karachi, where thousands of workers of the main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, rallied in opposition to the drone attacks, Al-Jazeera reports. Protesters chanted "Stop drone attacks," "stop NATO supplies," and "Any friend of America is traitor." But the Washington Post noted that "Kashmiri’s alleged involvement in attacks on Pakistanis was likely to mute the public reaction." Pakistani analysts also told Al-Jazeera that Kashmiri's death is good news for the country, which has failed to subdue armed groups seeking to topple its government despite a series of army offensives.


http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/06/death-al-qaeda-leader-may-increase-support-drone-attacks/38498/

[Nostradammit]

1. Yes, I certainly now think that the U.S. should use drones to kill everyone

that the government doesn't like. Why waste time with bullshit like trials and extraditions and all that.
We should use them here at home, too. Anybody Obama doesn't like - BLAM - he can just work his little remote
control and start wasting people. All the congress people should have them too, and all the county sheriffs
and any body else who as any kind of authority.

Yes, I certainly do support the use of drones now that I see they can be used to kill bad guys.

Sign me up.

[sabrina 1]

2. Only problem is, THEY KILLED HIM BEFORE!

And supposedly with a drone!

And when he was apparently resurrected, assuming he was, it was argued that drones were NOT reliable, killing so often innocent people, so many women and children, and claiming to have killed 'terrorists' when in fact they are not only CRUEL and COWARDLY but inaccurate and deadly to the innocent.

So, we do not even know if he was killed two years ago, killed now, or never killed at all.

Drones are war crimes and should be banned.

[sabrina 1]

3. Oh yes, and unrec'd for support of killing machines

in a place where we do not belong, cowardly, deadly killing machines that have ripped apart babies, children, women, the elderly, from thousands of miles away, forcing loved ones to pick up body parts of their little children to try to find something to bury.

What has happened to the Democratic Party? I supported them to END these crimes, to stop killing innocents in foreign lands.

So now we are supporting Bush's criminal wars? When did this happen? And was he right now, according to Democrats? I would like answers to these questions before the next election.

[Countdown_3_2_1]

4. Drones are very useful. +1

Pakistan arrested this guy a few years ago and then released him for no reason a few months later.

When your ally cannot take terrorism seriously, Drones step in as a good alternative.

[tekisui]

5. Drone strikes help maintain perpetual war. Blowback and radicalization

are inevitable. Obama had a chance to change course on the drone war and chose to escalate and expand it.

[Canuckistanian]

6. Exactly what I was going to say

Did Obama think this would have ZERO consequences?

[PuffedMica]

7. Every report of a successful drone attack is a plus for the Bush Administration illegal use of them

The Bush Administration began the illegal practice of violating International Sovereignty by flying armed robots into Pakistan to assassinating people we oppose. Now every successful attack is used to justify more attacks and justify Bush's ignorance of the law. As this country celebrates the death of another adversary through the use of drones, we take ourselves one step further from prosecuting Bush/Cheney for the war crimes they committed.