The secretive Shamsi Airbase in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province saw some new arrivals today, a pair of aircraft from the US arrived to begin the process of withdrawing military personnel, CIA agents and drones from the base.
Pakistan ordered the US out of the base last month after the deadly US attack on a pair of Pakistani bases in the Mohmand Agency. The attacks killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
The base’s history is somewhat convoluted, as the base had been given to the United Arab Emirates in the early 90’s, and it was Emirati officials, not Pakistan, which transferred the base to US control. Since then the base has been used primarily for surveillance drones, but with the drone war increasingly targeting Pakistani soil, it has become a growing issue.
The US control over the base is something of a poorly kept secret, as Pentagon officials continue to express official mystification at the orders and deny that any troops are deployed there, even as Pakistani officials confirm that the troops who are there are indeed leaving. Though US forces in Shamsi was an established fact for years, Pakistani officials only admitted it to parliament in May.
Which is a step up from the last time Shamsi was made an issue by the Pakistani government. In July Pakistan demanded the US leave the base and while publicly denying that they had any troops at the base anonymous US officials told top media outlets that they had no intention of actually leaving. With tensions soaring however, it seems the estimated 70 US personnel on base are now leaving while the getting is good.
Yes, one would think that the CIA agents would run along with any contractors there as well as they are not Military they DO NOT HAVE the same rights as Soldiers, that are as Bush called Al Qaeda operatives, unlawful combatants, no different from murderers. They dont wear a uniform and are NOT in the Military chain of Command! In fact the Pakistani's technically could execute them as Spies, which working for the CIA they are by definition anyway!
I can't believe they're actually going through with it!
I can't either. This is probably a shell game with the assets just being moved to other US bases in the theatre. Since when do the wishes of the host country have any bearing on what US military wants?
GTFO…….. An don't let th door hit you on th way OUT……..Targeting and killing 12 and 16 yo boys….. on a motorbike…. SHAME… Shame… Shame… SHAME…SHAME.. Animals… Infidel CHILD KILLERS….!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. …….&&&&&&&&& Take yer Israeli KILLER DRONES with you…
Anyone remember last year's flooding in Pakistan?
“and, you know, this is the worst catastrophe to have hit any state since apparently biblical times. So, he actually mentioned to me that the River Indus, which is one of the largest rivers in the world, carrying now a volume of water which has not been known in contemporary history, was breached on the left bank deliberately in order to protect the base, which is on the right bank. And the breaching caused, consequentially, the inundation of an entire district, which resulted in the displacement of millions, not thousands, but millions, because we have 170 million people in the country, and this particular district is one of the most densely populated. So, yes, there is a connect between, you know, what is considered to be a natural disaster, but then the management of that disaster is not natural at all.” Feryal Ali Gauhar.
This should have been sufficient reason for the Pakistani authorities to kick them out, but human life is cheap in Pakistan unless it belongs to the military. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/13/this_is_the…
Well may they be joined by all those troops in Pakistan, Afganistan, Iraq, Gemany, Korea, Japan and 130 other countries. It is time to think of our troops and their families. They belong home defending these borders and shores, not those of the whole world. The world can figure it out for itself. We need to figure out how we got into the mess we are in now.
how long did the US think it could kill Pak civilians and soldiers and the Pak gov't was going to be able to look the other way?
Does anybody actually believe the US military is leaving the area just because Pakistan demanded it?
I dont believe it for a second. They must have finished building the ‘secret’ base, by now, surely. Allows plausable deniability by bY both sides.