Saturday, November 13, 2010

Drone strikes

A pair of American drone strikes killed 14 suspected militants in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, local intelligence officials said, in the latest attacks against al–Qaida and Taliban militants seeking sanctuary in the region.

. . . In the first strike, one American missile slammed into a house and another hit a vehicle in the town of Ghulam Khan just north of Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, the two officials said. Nine insurgents were killed.

An hour later, another pair of missiles struck a vehicle in the nearby town of Datta Khel, killing five suspected militants, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to talk to the media. They said all five killed were foreigners.

. . . Some locals allege that the suspected U.S. drone strikes regularly kill innocents, while others say the missiles are accurate and most of the dead are militants or villagers knowingly harboring them.

The strikes are carried out by unmanned drones that fly over the region for hours and equipped with extremely high–powered video cameras.

http://topnews360.tmcnet.com/topics/associated-press/articles/2010/11/10/116036-pakistan-says-2-us-drone-strikes-kill-14.htm

There's no doubt that drone strikes result in unintentional collateral civilian casualties.

Ironically, the same people who complained about "war criminals" in the last administration now authorize aerial bombardment of civilian populated areas.

Their commitment to "anti war" policies was nothing but election year posturing.

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