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‘Drones multiply militants’ – Pakistani FM
Published: 09 February, 2012, 11:41
TAGS: Arms, Conflict, Military, NATO, Interview, Protest, Politics, Terrorism, Afghanistan, USA, Oksana Boyko, War
American drones hitting targets on Pakistani territory is illegal, and involvement of the Pakistani spy agencies with Taliban not even worthy of comment, said Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, exclusive to RT.
Attacks by US drones on Pakistani territory are illegal and cannot be tolerated, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told RT. In a recent development, a US drone strike killed three suspected militants in the Pakistani northwest tribal region, AP news agency reports on Thursday. On Wednesday nine people were killed in another attack, including some Taliban fighters. These follow tensions between the Pakistani government and the US administration over American air strikes last year that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani troops.
According to the minister, the US attacks promote extremist moods in the region.
“Drones are not only completely illegal and unlawful and have no authorization to be used within the domains of international law but even more importantly, they are counter-productive to the objective of getting this region rid of militancy, and terrorism and extremism,” Hina Rabbani Khar said. “Because if one strike leads to getting you target number one or target number three today, you are creating five more targets or 10 more targets in the militancy that it breeds, in the fodder that it gives to the militants to attract more people to join their ranks.”
“We are today in Pakistan suffering from the consequences of what many other powers of the world decided to do in that region to rid itself of the challenge that appeared in 1979, which was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,” she added. “In trying to deal with that we have created certain groups which are today a challenge to everybody.”
Allegations that the Pakistani security forces maintain close contact with Taliban and even sponsor them are old and do not even “worth a comment,” Hina Rabbani Khar told RT.
“I think every intelligence agency in the world maintains ties with one group or the other and all of them at some level,” she said. “These ties are now pretty much out at the open because people are openly talking about talking to these people. This is something which is not even worth a comment.”
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"a US drone strike killed three suspected militants in the Pakistani northwest tribal region, AP news agency reports on Thursday"
To any US citizens who might still think that when their local news agencies refer to "suspected militants", "targets", "suspected terrorists" et cetera, that those terms imply any likelihood of guilt or malice on the part of the dead, imagine this situation unfolding in a police station near you:
"We found three suspects for that murder case last week-"
"Kill them!"
"Okay, they're dead. Oh wait, it turns out they all had very reputable alibis for the whole day, but good news is we found a couple more suspects-"
"Kill them!"
etc.
No lineups, no questionings, no courts, just mass-murder paid for by you. Replace the BS labels by western news agencies with more accurate ones like "humans" or "men, women and children".
The comments by the Pakistani Foreign Minister come as no surprise or news, as revenge for lost loved-ones is one of the most famous motivations for people in oppressed countries to go to war.
Wait a minute, doesn't Pakistan have nukes and a large army? They have modern F-16s with working radar, the drones used are not stealth drones so they should be able to locate them easily. And with even all that firepower they can't stop a silly drone? Hmmm. Sounds to me as if Pakistan really likes the drones but its cowardly politicians find it easier to demonize the West as the cause of the problem rather than standing up and taking responsibility. Drone strikes don't happen without input from Pakistan. This is just another example of an Islamofascist goverment using lies about the West as cover.
