U.S. Drones in Pakistan: Precision weapons? Not so much.

[bushmeister0]

The News(Of Pakistan):

"Figures compiled by the Pakistani authorities show that a total of 701 people, including 14 al-Qaeda leaders, have been killed since January 2006 in 60 American predator attacks targeting the tribal areas of Pakistan. Two strikes carried out in 2006 had killed 98 civilians while three attacks conducted in 2007 had slain 66 Pakistanis, yet none of the wanted al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders could be hit by the Americans right on target. However, of the 50 drone attacks carried out between January 29, 2008 and April 8, 2009, 10 hit their targets and killed 14 wanted al-Qaeda operatives . . . The remaining 50 drone attacks went wrong due to faulty intelligence information, killing hundreds of innocent civilians, including women and children. The number of the Pakistani civilians killed in those 50 attacks stood at 537, in which 385 people lost their lives in 2008 and 152 people were slain in the first 99 days of 2009 (between January 1 and April 8)."

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=21440

And more from the Winning Hearts and Minds department:

Reuters (April 10):

"The U.S. military has conceded that a raid this week by troops under its command in Afghanistan killed a group of civilians who were defending their home, not militants as it had earlier reported . . . A Reuters witness at the village after the raid saw the body of a seven-day-old boy who died during the raid. International aid group Care said in a statement that one of the victims was a female teacher working in a school it supports. It said the four others killed were members of her family, including two children. One was a student in her class . . . Some 2,100 civilians were killed in Afghanistan last year, a third of them by Afghan and international troops, the United Nations says."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090410/ts_nm/us_afghanistan_violence_2

Sending more troops into Afghanistan should really help matters.

[Hanse]

1. Only as precise as the intelligence.

[bushmeister0]

3. Military intelligence? Oxymoron?

[mix]

2. Drones: machines that make terrorists n/t

[Alamuti Lotus]

4. so 500 people have been murdered.. at least they aren't Americans!

:eyes:

[bushmeister0]

5. I think the idea is, if we could actually kill the people who might launch

an attack against us and not hundreds and hundreds of innocent women and children in a country we're supposedly allies with, we might have a better chance of preventing another 9/11.

[RC]

7. Do you mean people like Cheney?

Speaking of criminals, when is Karl Rove going to testify under oath before Congress?

[Alamuti Lotus]

8. and instead, another is just being perpetrated

just not against Americans this time.

[leftstreet]

6. Dammit Jim, I'm a Pirate not a Terrorist! n/t