A Really, Really Terrible Idea
Drone attacks may be expanded in Pakistan — latimes.com
Reporting from Washington – Senior U.S. officials are pushing to expand CIA drone strikes beyond Pakistan’s tribal region and into a major city in an attempt to pressure the Pakistani government to pursue Taliban leaders based in Quetta.
The proposal has opened a contentious new front in the clandestine war. The prospect of Predator aircraft strikes in Quetta, a sprawling city, signals a new U.S. resolve to decapitate the Taliban. But it also risks rupturing Washington’s relationship with Islamabad.
The concern has created tension among Obama administration officials over whether unmanned aircraft strikes in a city of 850,000 are a realistic option. Proponents, including some military leaders, argue that attacking the Taliban in Quetta — or at least threatening to do so — is crucial to the success of the revised war strategy President Obama unveiled last week.
“If we don’t do this — at least have a real discussion of it — Pakistan might not think we are serious,” said a senior U.S. official involved in war planning. “What the Pakistanis have to do is tell the Taliban that there is too much pressure from the U.S.; we can’t allow you to have sanctuary inside Pakistan anymore.”
The drone strikes in the border areas — largely rural and essentially beyond the reach of Pakistani government authority — are problematic enough. I guess, in the end, I support them as a short-term necessity, but they are very problematic. Extending drone strikes into a city of nearly 800,000 people and a provincial capital of a Pakistani province is just a terrible idea. The backlash in Pakistan will be vicious, even among elites. The risk of collateral damage is massive.
