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TechnoratiPakistanis Reject U.S. "Aid" Flights, As Lawsuit is Filed Against U.S. Drone Attacks
Damn those ungrateful Pakistanis. After U.S. drone attacks killed more than 600 of their people since 2006—most of them civilians—it seems they think they have some right to say they don’t want the U.S. flying its “aid” planes to Swat and other “tribal areas.” The New York Times reports that “the Pakistani authorities have refused to allow American workers or planes to distribute the aid in the camps for displaced people.” The paper reports:
Islamist charities and the United States are competing for the allegiance of the two million people displaced by the fight against the Taliban in Swat and other parts of Pakistan — and so far, the Islamists are in the lead.
Top US officials (and the Times) make no apologies for the fact that the aid is intended primarily as a counter-insurgency program:
The inconspicuous back seat is not what American officials had hoped for. At first, the huge exodus of people from Swat, many of whom had suffered from the brutality of the Taliban, seemed to present an opportunity for Washington to improve its image in Pakistan.
“There is an opportunity actually to provide services, much as we did with the earthquake relief, which had a profound impact on the perception of America,” Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who serves as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said during a hearing attended by the Obama administration’s special envoy, Richard C. Holbrooke, at the start of the exodus.
Here is the best part of the U.S. effort:
In an effort to highlight American concern for the refugees, Mr. Holbrooke visited the camps in June, sitting on the floor of a sweltering tent and talking to people about their plight. “President Obama has sent us to see how we can help you,” he said.
Poor Dick Holbrooke, having to sit in that sweaty tent. I really hope someone at that meeting said, “Obama can help us by stopping his regular, deadly bombings.” The Times claims that what came out of the meeting “was an effort to send Pakistani-American female doctors to assist women in the camps, who according to their cultural traditions must be treated by women.”
Meanwhile, a Pakistani human rights lawyer filed a petition at the country’s Supreme 
Court
asking it to order the Pakistani government to undertake a
“comprehensive report” on U.S. drone attacks against the country. “I
have filed the petition in the Supreme Court as a protest to let the
world know about the sentiments of the people of Pakistan on
consecutive drone attacks which are killing scores of people,” said the
attorney, M. Tariq Asad.
According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn:
In his petition, Mr Asad sought the apex court’s direction for the government to submit a complaint against the United States in the International Court of Justice or any other appropriate judicial organ of the United Nations for an appropriate action in accordance with international laws.A U.S. drone attack in late June on a Pakistani funeral may have killed as many as 70 people and prompted the Pakistani government to call for an end to the strikes. Obama has been bombing Pakistan since the third day of his presidency. Obama has refused to comment directly on the drone attacks, but told a Pakistani journalist last month he did not comment on specific operations.
The petition said that killing and causing serious physical and mental harm to the inhabitants of the northern areas and systemically oppressing them and denying their right to life and liberty amounted to derogation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.
11 Comments so far
Show AllEveryone should know by now that Obama loves war and has embraced it. He is not what he claimed to be and was prepped for by the elite and corporate dogs to win the WH. This expanded "war" into Pakistan makes no sense--If they are sovereign, why are we bombing and killing civilians and the world sitting back silent? This will be Obama's Vietnam for we cannot win there and Iraq will be lumped into this legacy of failure. My problem with his "war" is the US will continue to slide into decay and ruin while these fools expand their agenda to the next terrorist threat. I was reading what the Far Right is saying about the coup in Honduras (They are dancing!) and it occurred to me if Cuba was nuked (To save the country) and the radiation cloud drifted over Florida killing thousands, Limbaugh and his clowns would be telling everyone it had to be done to save this country. It sure seems to be working for us in the Mideast, doesn't it? Winning hearts and minds by killing everyone and destroying the history and civilization to do it.
Deepa
One of the basic definitions of terrorism in dictionaries is: “Violence or the threat of violence, especially bombing, kidnapping, and assassination, carried out by states or individuals for political purposes.”
According to the academic definition:
"Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby – in contrast to assassination – the direct targets of violence are not the main targets."
The US Joint Chiefs of Staff publication defines terrorism as, “The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence against people or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives.”
Based on the US definition of terrorism, in July of 2006 Edward Peck has termed the US activities as terrorism. He said: "U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2331[1], and read the U.S. definition of terrorism. And one of them in here says • one of the terms, "international terrorism" means “activities that,” I quote, “appear to be intended to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping”…Yes, well, certainly, you can think of a number of countries that have been involved in such activities. Ours is one of them."
A concerned Peck in an interview on CNN Crossfire on October 8, 2001 retorted, "Why it is that all of these people hate us. It's not because of freedom...They hate us because of things they see us doing to their part of the world that they definitely do not like."
Pakistanis and Iraqis are not the only ones who hate Americans. Few days ago I was talking to an Ethiopian friend. His eyes were filled with tears when he was narrating the atrocities of Americnas in Ethiopia. He was telling how people in his country are HELPLESS against the ruthless and mighty Americans.
I don't get it. Pakistan is a nuclear-armed state, and the U.S. is conducting airstrikes within its borders, killing indiscriminately. Is this reckless policy? or Is there some kind of a secret deal between the two governments? Pakistan is a nominal ally, harbors more Jihadists than any other state, but we support its government while simultaneously committ acts of war upon it. It don't add up.
Obama's new name is Gunslinger, in the tradition of very cool military gunship callsigns.
B-rack is a Gunslinger.
"How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Barack Bush Obama.
Foreword by "Deadeye Dick" Cheney
· Yr Obd't Servant
People have a right to protect themselves and their familys from these UAVs.
Kids controlling them in Vegas and kids building them for Boeing are all fair game.
odoco
I think when it was 'just' Iraq (and Saddam) that we were pounding many in the Muslim world, as well as elsewhere, turned a blind eye toward our illegalities. But now, with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, still Iraq, and threatening Iran - a growing perception throughout the world, Muslim and non-Muslim, is that the US is fighting its 'War on Terror' in a moral void. Not only are we now perceived as 'immoral' in so many different areas, but much of the world is now understanding that this US expansionism is nothing more than modern-day imperialism.
What is heartening is that an ever-growing percentage of our own people are finally arriving at this inescapable conclusion.
Don't give up. Never stop. Always speak truth to power. Use facts + emotion (Chris Hedges), and believe we can still change the world!
Obama is a chameleon.
Obama may not kill as many as BushCo or Clinton/Gore, but he's a killer and war criminal just the same.
Well! He's working as fast as he can. Give him a break - he'll be worse for sure than Bush.