Pakistan’s government lodged an official protest today over yesterday’s brief US invasion of its tribal regions, a raid by US attack helicopters which left at least 60 “suspects” dead and large numbers of Pakistanis outraged.
Though the Zardari government has regularly shrugged off CIA drone strikes against its territory, the invasion of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with military hardware is something else entirely, and the rare occasions in which this has happened in the past have sparked considerable anger.
Though the US at the time claimed it has an “agreement” with the Pakistani government about such incursions, the nation’s Foreign Office insists there has never been such a deal and that it considers the attack a violation of its sovereignty.
The victims of the attack were, according to NATO officials, believed to be the same people responsible for an attack earlier in the day in the Khost Province of Afghanistan. Khost borders Pakistan’s North Waziristan Agency, a common target of US drone strikes.
While this is certainly a violation of Pakistan's territorial integrity, it's still not clear to me why this is fundamentally different from the CIA flying drone aircraft out of airports IN PAKISTAN to kill Pakistanis (and the occasional US citizen if Woodward is to be believed) – the drone attacks have been going on for years and escalated dramatically since Obama came into office. The UN folks have declared the drone attacks to be in violation of international law. So isn't it just a political game to draw a distinction and cry foul when US helicopters cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan to kill people in Pakistan, but not when US drones are flown from Pakistani airports to kill people in Pakistan? The Pakistani government doth protest too much, methinks.
Hi there I live in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I had to stop and comment on your site. Thank you for sharing your blog with us.
Pakistan has become a women for every one to serve and our traitor President Zardari in exchange for money to his private purpose has given green to americans to kill the Pakistanis.
Americans have have no moral value to persue lies is the long term counter productive.
Yesterday I wrote a comment that americans have closed their doors themselves e.g. for tourist, for business, for treatment etc. This is well known that the arabs were purchasing blindly and now all the hotels are, banks are bankrupt and Saudi still helping to rescue etc.
This is a well known idiom to cover a lie you will have to lie again and again.
I don,t any Muslim will be ready to co-operate with america only the politicians like PPP who came with american will.
It is still time to abide by international rules as well as your constitution.
Pl. don,t repeat the Hitler legacy although you have killed enough your own agents so called Taleban or terrorist.
Pakistan's sovereignty is not the issue. Most nations are sovereign and to argue that america shouldn't be committing its war crimes in Pakistan because of its sovereign status misses the most important point. Further, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and even Somalia are sovereign states. This status does nothing to protect them from israel's american war machine. Indeed, the 'sovereignty' argument is being fielded quite late in the game. The u.s. has been destroying sovereign nations for a long time. Check out the 'list of sovereign states' at Wikipedia for an up to date list. After all america has done; its clear that Pakistan is not the first sovereign state that america has unleashed its military against.
The real issue here is that america is committing war crimes against its ALLY. Pakistan is an ally of the u.s., just as Canada, the U.K., France, etc. Waging a war – without declaring war – against your ally, killing its people and destroying its towns, bridges, roads, airstrips, etc. is what's really new here. All the while, america expects Pakistan to remain well behaved and to continue acting as an ally – especially in the never-ending 'war on terror'.
A pertinent question at this point is "What is an alliance with america worth?" For the aforementioned group of allies, Canada, the U.K., France, etc., the answer is obvious. All these nations benefit from their alliance with america in many different ways. Problems arrise when america's alliances are tested against its 'special relationship' with israel. The Mavi Marmara incident is a perfect example of america betraying an ally, in this case – Turkey. The u.s. turned against its ally in favor of supporting acts of war, murder, and blatant violations of the Law of the Seas (including piracy) committed by its 'special friend'. The u.s. even went as far as threatening its ally Turkey for objecting to having its citizens murdered and its ship seized (pirated). The double-crosser has shown the world that a bona fide and internationally recognised alliance can be disregarded on a whim in favor of supporting those who committed crimes against one of its allies. Clearly, an alliance with america is worth nothing because its 'special relationship' with israel trumps any and all such obligations and, indeed, international law.
Problems obviously also arise when an alliance with america begins to hinder america's imperialist tendencies and plans. In the case of Pakistan; their alliance has been abused by america to the point of being little more than a bad joke. Pakistan's "ally", america, is using the most advanced military in the world to kill more Pakistanis on Pakistani soil that any of Pakistan's enemies. What will happen to the next ally of america who finds itself either on israel's *hit list or in the way of american imperialism? What will their strategic alliance with the double-crossers be worth then?
I think Pakistan's main worry is what if someone shoots at the helicopter and an American serviceman gets injured? There is no such danger with the drones.