Pakistani protesters continued to take to the street of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwah (KP) Province today as yet another US drone attack hit the nation’s tribal areas.
Today’s attack destroyed a house in Chasma Pul, killing three people and wounding two others. None of the victims were identified, but all of them were labeled “suspected militants,” as is common practice for US attacks.
One local resident said the house was being rented by the men, who were believed to be part of the Punjabi Taliban, a faction which is not generally at war with Pakistan’s government.
US drone strikes have increasingly targeted Taliban fighters who either have or are in the process of establishing peace deals with Pakistan’s government, undermining the deals and fueling anger across Pakistan.
By calling Remote-Controlled Aircraft drones you impersonalize the killing and destruction by implying that there is no pilot pulling the trigger to kill people.
The pilot sits at his computer in an air-conditioned office in the U.S. sipping his latte coffee and killing people on the other side of the world, based on intelligence from a guy sitting at his computer in another air-conditioned near by. When their shift is over they go home to spend some quality time with their kids playing 'shoot 'em games' on thier computer.