Special Report from Dispatch News Desk (DND) ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and United States of America are considered as the leader and the follower in international diplomatic crop. Of course Pakistan is a follower indeed. However, sometimes, Pakistan tries to take a position to safeguard its interests for political and ethical reasons. Most of time, Pakistan follows USA blindly. Same situation is being faced by two on drone attacks issues.
The White House on Tuesday defended targeted drone strikes against American citizens abroad suspected of high-level terrorist activity, but declined to give detail about the criteria for ordering such an attack. “Sometimes we use remotely piloted aircraft to conduct targeted strikes against specific al Qaeda terrorists in order to prevent attacks on the United States and to save American lives,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney. “We conduct those strikes because they are necessary to mitigate ongoing actual threats, to stop plots, to prevent future attacks and, again, save American lives,” Carney said. “These strikes are legal, they are ethical, and they are wise.”
On the other hand, Pakistan calls these strikes “a clear violation of its sovereignty and a violation of international law” and Pakistan Ambassador in United States Sherry Rehman believes that drone attacks are threaten stable relations between Islamabad and Washington. According to The Washington Sherry Rehman maintained that US drone strikes in Pakistan are illegal and counterproductive, producing more militants than they eliminate. Sherry called the targeted killings a “direct violation of our sovereignty” and international law as well as a red line that Pakistani authorities are constantly urging the US not to cross. However she did not mention that what Pakistan could do if USA constantly crossing this red lines? She also maintained reports that Pakistan has tacitly approved the strikes while publicly denouncing them are untrue.
The United States government has made hundreds of attacks on targets in northwest Pakistan since 2004 using drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency’s Special Activities Division. These attacks are part of the United States’ War on Terrorism campaign, seeking to defeat Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan. Most of these attacks are on targets in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Northwest Pakistan. These strikes have increased substantially under the Presidency of Barack Obama. Some media refer to the series of attacks as a “drone war.
