US Mum as Pakistan Continues to Press Over Civilian Killings

US Envoy Still Hasn't Returned to DC to Deliver Note of Protest

The March 17 drone strike which killed 41 civilians in Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency may have fallen out of the headlines for the most part, but Pakistan’s anger remains. The US, however, seems to have little interest in hearing it.

That is the indication Tuesday at least, as Pakistani officials continue to seek either an official apology from the US State Department for the massive death toll, or at least for Ambassador Cameron Munter to keep his promise to deliver the note of protest to Washington DC. He was supposed to leave Saturday.

Officials say, however, that Munter still hasn’t left, and that the State Department is “in no mood” to offer an apology. Pakistan, for its part, has announced it will boycott this week’s Afghanistan conference in the US.

The US is already facing a growing split with the Afghan government over civilian killings there. If this split with the Pakistani government continues to grow, as well it might in the wake of the Raymond Davis fiasco, the Obama Administration may be facing its signature war without the support of its two “key allies” in the region.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.