I can visualise a storm being brewed in media by right-wing religious-political parties over the ex-president Musharraf’s admission that Americans used drones with the agreement of then-Pakistan government. As per record, during 2004 – 2007 Americans used drones with relatively care, most probably taking Pakistan on board while sharing the intelligence information. Since 2008, drone attacks became a routine task to take out the militants in Pak-Afghanistan tribal areas, apparently Americans have kept Pakistan out of intelligence sharing on targets and timings. Drones have been widely blamed for collateral damage resulting in resentment among locals; end result: more militants and more anti-Americanism across the country. We all know that numerous high profile figures of Al-Qaeda and Taliban were eliminated by drones which would have not been possible by ground forces. Therefore, no one can deny the usefulness of this weapon, however, indiscriminate use of any weapon is dangerous and counter-productive, same is applicable for drones.
Let’s accept the fact written on the wall: Al-Qaeda and Taliban can’t be defeated by ground forces, therefore, whatever resources/technology is available at our disposal should be deployed to win the war on terror.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia