A US drone strike destroyed a house in South Waziristan’s city of Wana today, killing at least four people, none of whom were identified, but all of whom were labeled “suspects.”
Pakistani intelligence officials say they believe two of the slain people were Arabs, which is usually a catchall term among officials for foreigners, not simply those of Arabic descent.
It is the second US drone strike in Pakistan in the past week, with 10 others killed on Wednesday, similarly never conclusively identified, in an attack in North Waziristan.
The attacks have been hugely unpopular with the Pakistani people, and while Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ran on a platform of ending the strikes in recent months he has appeared just as ambivalent as his predecessor about such strikes, which is only adding to the disquiet about his continued rule.
The only way Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can truly show how serious he is about these drone strikes on his territory is to shoot these things out of the air. Until that happens, he is condoning them.
As bribs go, Pakastan must hold the world’s record, for since the 1950’s have we been shuffling payoffs to any official of theirs that can do us some good.