Pakistan lodges protest against US attack

[gazoomartian]

Gazoo's comments: WOW they are killing pakistani and these ullu kay pathas are lodging protest. Go starting bringing down drone for heavens sake

Pakistan lodges protest against US attack

Drone attacks have become a core irritant in the counter-terror campaign, a statement by the Foreign Office said.-Reuters photo

​

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan lodged a protest with the United States on Wednesday over the Angoor Adda drone attack, describing the continued drone raids as a core irritant in counter-terrorism cooperation.

An unusual aspect of the remonstration was that it was the first time in a couple of years that a dmarche was made on a missile strike targeting militants an indication that Islamabad may be revisiting its tacit tolerance of hits by pilotless predators on militant sites.
Military sources confirmed to Dawn that those killed and injured in the drone attack on Wednesday were Afghans.
Pakistan strongly condemns the drone attack at Angoor Adda today. We have repeatedly said that such attacks are counter-productive and only contribute to strengthening the hands of terrorists, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told US Ambassador Cameron Munter while lodging the protest with him.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua, however, emphasised that Mr Munter had not been summoned and he was at the Foreign Office to discuss bilateral issues when he was handed over the dmarche.
Drone attacks, usually denounced using clichs like unacceptable, violation of sovereignty and flagrant violation of humanitarian norms and law, were probably for the first time identified as a core irritant in counter-terrorism cooperation.
Drone attacks have become a core irritant in the counter-terror campaign, a statement by the Foreign Office said.
The timing of the latest attack is also being seen as meaningful because it took place at a time when ISI chief Gen Shuja Pasha was on his way home from Washington after talks with his counterpart, CIA Director Leon Panetta. Gen Pasha had called for limiting the scope of drone attacks to North Waziristan as a precondition for reviving the stalled counter-terrorism cooperation.
The CIA-ISI cooperation has been on hold since January when CIA operative Raymond Davis fatally shot two youths in Lahore. The two agencies were close to resolving their operational differences last month (Davis release being part of that deal), but drone attacks on a jirga one day after the release killed the prospects for a rapprochement.
However, fresh efforts were made to normalise the ties and Gen Pashas visit to Washington was an effort in that direction.
It is not yet clear what impact the latest drone strike will have on what was described by Ambassador Munter a couple of days ago as renewal in ties.
Although drone strikes have been unpopular with the public, military commanders and civilian leadership started acknowledging their usefulness in targeting militants.
The General Officer Commanding 7-Division, Maj-Gen Ghayur Mehmood, had last month told reporters that myths and rumours about US predator strikes and casualty figures were many, but it was a reality that many of those killed in these strikes were hardcore elements, a sizable number of them foreigners.
If anything the latest protest indicates is that problems in bilateral ties may have compelled the civilian leadership and the military to probably rethink their tacit endorsement of drone attacks on militant targets.


Dawn

 

[zeshaan]

If instead of lodging the protest GOVT OF PAKISTAN allow the FATA peoples to protect themselves and shoot these drones,they can protect themselves better than ours Govt,

 

[Muhammad Tauseef A. Bajwa]

US mocks Pak demand with fresh drone strike

US mocks Pak demand with fresh drone strike
By Qaiser Butt / Sumera Khan
Published: April 14, 2011

Six militants killed in missile attack; Islamabad lodges strong protest with American ambassador.

ISLAMABAD:
After a brief lull, US drones resumed missile attacks in the militant-infested tribal regions on Wednesday, notwithstanding Pakistans demands for scaling back the covert war of the American spy agency on its soil.

Pakistan has, once again, lodged its protest with the US top diplomat in the country.

The fresh drone strike in the South Waziristan Agency coincided with a report in The Washington Post that quoted US defence officials as saying that there was no plan to suspend or restrict the drone campaign of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Pakistan.

This also came a day after The New York Times reported that Islamabad had told Washington to rein in drone strikes and slash the number of CIA agents and Special Operations Forces operating in Pakistan.

Wednesdays drone attack targeted a vehicle near the town of Angoor Adda in the South Waziristan tribal region, around six kilometres from the border with Afghanistan.

Four missiles were fired. The target was a vehicle. Six militants were killed, a military official told AFP requesting anonymity.

Intelligence officials said the dead belonged to the Haqqani Network, an al Qaeda-allied group run by veteran Afghan warlord Sirajuddin Haqqani and based in North Waziristan.

An administration official in South Waziristan said those who died were all Afghans.

The drone attack came one day after a meeting between ISI chief Lt-Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha and Leon Panetta, Director of the CIA, which runs the drone war.
According to The Washington Post, Panetta told Gen Pasha that he has an obligation to protect the American people and was responsible for national security and therefore he had no plans to call an end to the drone strikes in Pakistan and neither was he planning to alter their frequency.

However, the CIA agreed to reveal more about its operatives and their activities in Pakistan but said that it would offer no information on the under-cover personnel.

The report also clearly stated that Raymond Davis, who had gunned down two Pakistanis at a Lahore market in January, was a CIA agent who was in Pakistan to spy on the countrys nuclear programme and gather more information on terrorist groups.

Analysts said the Washington meeting was meant to mend ties between the two countries, which were strained by a series of diplomatic rows.

According to my knowledge, the ISI chief discussions in Washington were aimed at redefining the CIAs activities in Pakistan,

Rustam Shah Mohmand, Pakistans former ambassador to Afghanistan, told The Express Tribune.

The latest drone strike in Angoor Adda was the first since March 17, when civilian and military leaders strongly protested over an attack that killed over 40 people, mostly civilians and police, in North Waziristan.

On Wednesday, too, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir lodged a strong protest with US Ambassador Cameron Munter over the fresh drone attack.

We have repeatedly said that such attacks are counter-productive and only contribute to strengthen the hands of the terrorists, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Drone attacks have become a core irritant in the counter-terror campaign. Pakistan has taken up the matter with the US at all levels, it added.

However, analysts said that any expectations that the CIA would abandon the drone campaign were misplaced, even if Pakistani leaders criticised the strikes.
My assumption is there would be some kind of understanding for limited drone strikes, said political and security analyst Hasan Askari.

Drone strikes also serve Pakistans interest. These strikes take place in the areas that are not firmly under the government control. Therefore, they weaken militant elements, he added.

Brigadier (retd) Mehmood Shah, former secretary security FATA, agreed with Askari. He said there was some covert deal between the US and Pakistan for drone attacks.

Almost all drone strikes are mutually agreed, he said. Prior permission is given by Pakistani officials for each strike, he told The Express Tribune.

Mohmand, who is also member of the Pak-Afghan peace jirga, also blamed the political leadership for the continuing drone strikes. Drone attacks can be stopped immediately. But it needs a competent political leadership, he added.

Official sources said Pakistans protest against the March 17 drone attack was, in fact, a protest over the civilian casualties. Pakistan is fine with the drone campaign as long terrorists are targeted, the sources told The Express Tribune.
With additional input from AFP

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2011.
http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content...11111-133298-133842-138243-149237-640x480.jpg

 

[gazoomartian]

If instead of lodging the protest GOVT OF PAKISTAN allow the FATA peoples to protect themselves and shoot these drones,they can protect themselves better than ours Govt,

an excellent point

 

[Young_Blood]

sab topi darama hai,, ye sab k sab apas main mille howay hein, Kya Pak Army, kia hamarey sab politicans ,,, ye sab k sab american phattu aur american tattu hein, ye sab ALLAH se nahi America se darte hein,,, mujhey to heraangi hoti hai k ye log,,, Kalma tayyba kese perte hein, jin ko Kalma Tayyba ka he matlab maloom nahi aur kese Nara e Takbeer lagatay hein,,,, Allah ka khouf hota to aaj ye america k neachey lete howay na hotey,,, khouf inhein sirf america ka hai,,,
Geedar hein ye aur kuttay hein, sirf bhonkna jantay hein, ker kuch nai saktay,,
sorry agar kisi muhibbe watan ko meri baat buri lagay, magar haqeeqat yehi hai,,

 

[mush_dewana]

sab topi darama hai,, ye sab k sab apas main mille howay hein, Kya Pak Army, kia hamarey sab politicans ,,, ye sab k sab american phattu aur american tattu hein, ye sab ALLAH se nahi America se darte hein,,, mujhey to heraangi hoti hai k ye log,,, Kalma tayyba kese perte hein, jin ko Kalma Tayyba ka he matlab maloom nahi aur kese Nara e Takbeer lagatay hein,,,, Allah ka khouf hota to aaj ye america k neachey lete howay na hotey,,, khouf inhein sirf america ka hai,,,
Geedar hein ye aur kuttay hein, sirf bhonkna jantay hein, ker kuch nai saktay,,
sorry agar kisi muhibbe watan ko meri baat buri lagay, magar haqeeqat yehi hai,,

After reading all these daramaz (Mumbai attack to Davis release) I am agreed with you
ISI @ CIA bai bai
balka MIAN BV ..... baki shadi suda afraad samaj gaee hoon ga

 

[Pathfinder]

Hakumat jub ghaddar ho to kia faida. There is nothing to be expected from the Pi$$ Poor Performance (Perfected) led coalition, the only thing I can suggest is a Public led blocade of NATO supply, but when a nation is sleeping that is little difficult to expect from them. Only the Public as a whole can do something against it nothing should be or can be expected from so called governance.

 

[Muhammad Tauseef A. Bajwa]

Guantanamo lawyer condemns drone strikes

Guantanamo lawyer condemns drone strikes
By Sonia Malik
Published: April 13, 2011

Clive Stafford Smith in town for workshop on death penalty cases.

LAHORE:
The United States kills many innocent civilians for each legitimate terrorist target in its war in Afghanistan and in drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan, according to a British lawyer who represents several detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
Referring to the drone strikes, Clive Stafford Smith said the deaths of a hundred Pakistanis did not mean anything to the United States compared to the death of a single American citizen.
He estimated that the US success rate in terms of targeting actual terrorists as opposed to civilian bystanders as one in a thousand.
Smith is a prominent lawyer in America and the founder of Reprieve, a British charity that helps prisoners on death row.
Reprieve is to conduct a two-day workshop on how to defend death penalty cases for Pakistani lawyers from today.
In an introductory meeting with lawyers and NGO representatives at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Tuesday evening, Smith also spoke of his experience of handling 300 death penalty cases.
Denny LeBoeuf, an American lawyer for several Guantanamo detainees, gave a presentation on how the rights of the detainees are violated by biased military tribunals.
She said the courtrooms at Guantanamo are divided in two, with family members of the defendants, human right activists and federal and civil lawyers sitting behind a glass partition and hearing proceedings with a 42-second delay.
A man presses a switch connected to a red light every time the defence lawyers mention any details of torture.
This is done to avoid any mention of the torture the prisoners are sometimes subjected to, she said.
She said while the prosecution had access to intelligence documents, among other resources, the defence usually had neither access to such documents nor sufficient capital.
The prisoners, during meetings with lawyers, are made to wear masks and goggles and are not provided translators, she said.
Also a staff attorney of the American Civil Liberties Union, LeBoeuf said the US administration should try the prisoners at Guantanamo on US soil and not in Cuba, as President Barack Obama had promised at the start of his presidency.
Asked a question about the Raymond Davis case, LeBoeuf said she doubted that he would ever be tried in a court in the United States.
She referred to him as an operative of the private security firm Blackwater, which has since changed its name to XE. LeBoeuf said that after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, her hometown, the US government sent in Blackwater operatives to protect the houses of the rich from looters rather than send in volunteers to help those who needed it most.
In some ways, New Orleans and Lahore have something in common: the open brutality of Blackwater, she said.
According to Reprieve, there are over 8,000 prisoners on death row in Pakistan, which made it the country giving out the most death sentences.
Six thousand of these prisoners are in Punjab.
Up to 120 lawyers are expected to attend the Reprieve workshop which will be held at the main hall of the Punjab Bar Council today.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 13th, 2011.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/148534/guantanamo-lawyer-condemns-drone-strikes/

 

[AhmedTauseef]

i m sure US cant do it without permission from PK government (cuz of NATO supplly) pakistani government is enemy of its people

 

[Muhammad Tauseef A. Bajwa]

US mocks Pak demand with fresh drone strike

US mocks Pak demand with fresh drone strike
By Qaiser Butt / Sumera Khan
Published: April 14, 2011

Six militants killed in missile attack; Islamabad lodges strong protest with American ambassador.

ISLAMABAD:
After a brief lull, US drones resumed missile attacks in the militant-infested tribal regions on Wednesday, notwithstanding Pakistans demands for scaling back the covert war of the American spy agency on its soil.
Pakistan has, once again, lodged its protest with the US top diplomat in the country.

The fresh drone strike in the South Waziristan Agency coincided with a report in The Washington Post that quoted US defence officials as saying that there was no plan to suspend or restrict the drone campaign of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Pakistan.
This also came a day after The New York Times reported that Islamabad had told Washington to rein in drone strikes and slash the number of CIA agents and Special Operations Forces operating in Pakistan.
Wednesdays drone attack targeted a vehicle near the town of Angoor Adda in the South Waziristan tribal region, around six kilometres from the border with Afghanistan.
Four missiles were fired. The target was a vehicle. Six militants were killed, a military official told AFP requesting anonymity.
Intelligence officials said the dead belonged to the Haqqani Network, an al Qaeda-allied group run by veteran Afghan warlord Sirajuddin Haqqani and based in North Waziristan.
An administration official in South Waziristan said those who died were all Afghans.
The drone attack came one day after a meeting between ISI chief Lt-Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha and Leon Panetta, Director of the CIA, which runs the drone war.
According to The Washington Post, Panetta told Gen Pasha that he has an obligation to protect the American people and was responsible for national security and therefore he had no plans to call an end to the drone strikes in Pakistan and neither was he planning to alter their frequency.
However, the CIA agreed to reveal more about its operatives and their activities in Pakistan but said that it would offer no information on the under-cover personnel.
The report also clearly stated that Raymond Davis, who had gunned down two Pakistanis at a Lahore market in January, was a CIA agent who was in Pakistan to spy on the countrys nuclear programme and gather more information on terrorist groups.
Analysts said the Washington meeting was meant to mend ties between the two countries, which were strained by a series of diplomatic rows.
According to my knowledge, the ISI chief discussions in Washington were aimed at redefining the CIAs activities in Pakistan,
Rustam Shah Mohmand, Pakistans former ambassador to Afghanistan, told The Express Tribune.
The latest drone strike in Angoor Adda was the first since March 17, when civilian and military leaders strongly protested over an attack that killed over 40 people, mostly civilians and police, in North Waziristan.
On Wednesday, too, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir lodged a strong protest with US Ambassador Cameron Munter over the fresh drone attack.
We have repeatedly said that such attacks are counter-productive and only contribute to strengthen the hands of the terrorists, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
Drone attacks have become a core irritant in the counter-terror campaign. Pakistan has taken up the matter with the US at all levels, it added.
However, analysts said that any expectations that the CIA would abandon the drone campaign were misplaced, even if Pakistani leaders criticised the strikes.
My assumption is there would be some kind of understanding for limited drone strikes, said political and security analyst Hasan Askari.
Drone strikes also serve Pakistans interest. These strikes take place in the areas that are not firmly under the government control. Therefore, they weaken militant elements, he added.

Brigadier (retd) Mehmood Shah, former secretary security FATA, agreed with Askari. He said there was some covert deal between the US and Pakistan for drone attacks.
Almost all drone strikes are mutually agreed, he said. Prior permission is given by Pakistani officials for each strike, he told The Express Tribune.
Mohmand, who is also member of the Pak-Afghan peace jirga, also blamed the political leadership for the continuing drone strikes. Drone attacks can be stopped immediately. But it needs a competent political leadership, he added.
Official sources said Pakistans protest against the March 17 drone attack was, in fact, a protest over the civilian casualties. Pakistan is fine with the drone campaign as long terrorists are targeted, the sources told The Express Tribune.
With additional input from AFP

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2011.
http://i1.tribune.com.pk/wp-content...11111-133298-133842-138243-149237-640x480.jpg

 

[crankthskunk]

I wrote in an earlier thread, after Davis fiasco I have absolutely no doubt that General Kiyani is following Musharafs policies vis a vis the Americans and their agenda.

There could be only two possibilities of a drone attack soon after General Pasha finished his talk with Panetta.

i) General Pasha has discussed and given tacit approval of Pakistani Government and the military for America to continue the drone strikes after General Kiyanis public condemnation of drone attack on the Jirga. After that incident no attack took place until yesterday.

It shows Americans were waiting for the green signal from Pakistani Military establishment. General Pasha conveyed the message of General Kiyani and military high command to the Americans.

It appears similar tactics would be adopted by the Military, which were adopted by the civilian government. Wikileaks stated that both the Prime Minister Gilani and President Zardari have given their approvals to the USA for drone attacks in Pakistan, and conveyed their willingness to accept collateral damage while they lodge mock protests for the consumption of their domestic audience.

In no other country of the world, its leaders, especially those who claimed to be elected by the people and representing the will of the people would allow killing of their innocent civilians, which in reality what collateral damage means in plain English.

Bankruptcy of Pakistani society is that despite knowing for months the position on the unlawful killings of innocent Pakistanis, of the two highest civilian post holders in Pakistan both belonging to the PPP, no one has raised this issue forcefully. There had been no large demonstrations, no ultimatums issued to the government to change their policy of appeasement to the Americans.

I know, PTI has announced to block NATO supply at Khyber, lets hope this is the start for a civil movement to stop these drone attacks.

In a country, where people seek judicial avenues in silliest things and on insignificant issues, we dont see petitions on this vital issue where so many innocent Pakistanis are getting killed. There should be petitions to SC to implicate both Prime Minister and President in the unlawful murders and killings of Innocent Pakistanis. These attacks are against international laws and are not justified under any circumstances, and should be treated as an act of war on Pakistan.

But alas, Pakistani Government and military are lodging meaningless protests. Why protest, why not go to the UN and International Court of Justice?

When I wrote few weeks back that Military should shoot down the drones, there were many who protested that I am suggesting war with USA. Absolutely not, these attacks are illegal under international laws and Pakistan is within its legal internationally acceptable rights to defend its territorial integrity and take whatever measures it deems fit to stop these attacks and killing of it innocent people. Enough of this dirty games on the vary people you claimed have given you mandate to run the country. Or for the safety of those you have swore to protect, for those you are wearing the uniform with such pride and fanfare.

Its a misnomer and canned logic to suggest that if someone is for shooting down the drones, its tantamount to declaring war against America. If that is so, then War is already declared on Pakistan by America, it had been violating your airspace and national territory on the ground for months, by conducting special forces operations within Pakistan. The scare campaign brigade is trying to play on the fears of Pakistani nation. What they mean by war is that if you stand against the illegal acts. In other words they convey the message, just accept the killings of innocent civilians and surrender of your national sovereignty.

Sadly, some people with an agenda or because of their political affiliations to the political parties who are anti-Pakistani in their nature and in their hidden manifestos, start to malign Pakistani Army, I am not amongst those, neither I am slating the whole of the Army as institution or as defender of Pakistan. But I am against individuals like General Musharaf and now I am developing similar feelings for General Kiyani, who have given away too much to the Americans without consulting their nation. General Kiyani is involved knee deep in the decisions made by Musharaf Government, from the War in Afghanistan to the tacit approval for the drone attacks, provision of Pakistani bases, establishment of the spy network within Pakistan. Including NRO negotiations which brought these corrupt PPP thugs in to the Power and Government.


ii) Second possibility is that General Pashas negotiations with CIA/Americans failed in that case Americans have thrown the gauntlet to Pakistani military and have shown their willingness to bomb Pakistani territory without officially declaring war on Pakistan, killing its civilian population against the international laws. Americans have no right to kill civilians of an independent country on the suspicions of some acts. There is no law in the world which allows killing of suspects without due process and trial. It is against the International norms of the justice. Pakistani Prime Minister, President and COAS are all involved in the killings of innocent people of Pakistan and those who are suspected as militants by the Americans, without due process of Law.


President Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani, COAS General Kiyani, you have no mandate or approvals from your citizens, or international agreements to allow and accept killings of your civilians innocent or suspected militants without due process of Law. You are responsible for the campaign of genocide against your people and should stand trial for agreeing and allowing these drone attacks to happen and allowing it to continue.