Addressing reporters today, Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman reiterated her government’s opposition to US drone strikes against Pakistani territory as a “clear violation of our sovereignty and a violation of international law.”
Rehman went on to say that there “has been no quiet complicity” from the ruling Pakistani Peoples Party (PPP) about the attacks, disputing US claims that they assume Pakistan’s government just publicly complains about the strikes but gives its “tacit consent.”
Rehman’s comments are likely more directly at Pakistan than at the United States, with elections just months away and many opposition parties condemning the PPP for not doing something to stop the strikes, and a broad belief inside Pakistan that there is a secret deal to keep the attacks going.
Rehman went on to reiterate that her government believes that the strikes are fueling more resentment and radicalization than the benefits they are supposedly providing in killing thousands of tribesmen.
