President Obama’s announcement of new “restrictions” on the drone war in Pakistan and Yemen was met as a “positive sign” by some Pakistani officials, though they also reiterated that their goal is to end US attacks entirely.
It was also met with skepticism by many, however, who have seen the US playing politics with the drone campaign and then ratcheting it back up whenever the complaints start to die down.
Analysts also saw the speech as laying the ground work for a long-term escalation of the drone program, as he continued to dispute the underlying problems that have led Pakistanis to demand its end to begin with.
Even the “fact sheet” associated with the restrictions sets no geographic limits for the attacks, and is so vague that it seems to open up the possibility of even more attacks, and simply does away with some of the secrecy surrounding their selection.