Posted February 18, 2009
There has been plenty of talk over the past several months that the Pakistani government had come to some sort of secret understanding with the United States about its continued use of Predator drones to launch attacks on Pakistani soil. But with the Pakistani government publicly denying it and the United States refusing to even officially confirm that it had launched most of the strikes, concrete evidence was elusive. That is no longer the case.
The Wall Street Journal cites several unnamed officials on both sides confirming that Pakistan’s military is giving “significant support” to the US attacks. The Times of London has published aerial photos from 2006 of a Pakistani airbase in Balochistan that also shows three Predator drones on the runway: seemly confirming last week’s comments by Senator Dianne Feinstein claiming that the United States had been using a Pakistani base for their drone attacks.
The United States has been launching a growing number of drone strikes in North and South Waziristan since mid-2008, killing a large number of civilians as well as the militants it has targeted. President Obama made advocating the strikes a centerpiece of his Pakistan policy, and the attacks have continued since he took office last month.
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compiled by Jason Ditz [email the author]
Tags: attacks on Pakistani soil, Pakistani government, secret understanding, Senator Dianne Feinstein, The Times of London, United States, use of Predator drones, Zardari government lying to Pakistanis
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