[LINK] "Give Us This Day Our Weekly Drone"

[rfmcdonald]

Over at the Inter Press Service, Ashfaq Yusufzai suggests that many people living in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region where American drones have been killing Al-Qaeda and Taliban actually approve of the attacks, on the grounds that the attacks are killing people who they despise who have not been killed yet by the Pakistani government.

"Drone attacks have become quite popular with the local population because these are spot-on and there are lesser chances of killing innocent people," says Jehangir Alam, professor of political Science at the Government College in Mardan, one of 24 districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The U.S. carried out the first drone attack on Jun. 18, 2004. So far 215 drone attacks have hit militants in South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Khyber Agency and Bajaur Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) of Pakistan.

[. . .]

A total of 2,049 persons have been killed in these attacks so far, which have been averaging about one a week over the past few years. There has been criticism that not all of these were militants.

[. . .]

But locally not everyone takes the official Pakistani position. "Drones are an extremely popular weapon," Hameed Akhtar a local journalist in Miramshah, North Waziristan tells IPS. "The local population is quite satisfied the way they are fired.

"Militants are passing sleepless nights due to fear of drone attacks," he said. "They are on the run. Everyday three to five drone aircraft come hovering over the North Waziristan territory, and fire missiles when they find their target."

"The list of successes the U.S has achieved by using pilotless planes is long and impressive," says Taza Gul a lecturer at the Degree College in Bannu. "People here appreciate the drone strikes because these are Al-Qaeda and Taliban specific."

Bannu is one of 24 districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and is home to about 100,000 displaced persons from South Waziristan where the Pakistan army launched an operation against Taliban militants in 2007.

"We have been living with relatives here. The U.S. should expedite the drone attacks to eliminate the Taliban as soon as possible so we could return to our homes," says Shah Wali, a shopkeeper from South Waziristan. "The Taliban are responsible for all our woes."