Senior Pakistani Diplomat Says Drone Strikes Violate Pakistan’s Sovereignty

One of Islamabad’s most senior diplomats says that CIA drone strikes in Pakistan are undermining their democracy and pushing people towards extremist groups. Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the high commissioner to London and one of Pakistan’s top ambassadors, said when it comes to democracy the US “talks in miles, but moves in inches”.

“What has been the whole outcome of these drone attacks is that you have directly or indirectly contributed to destabilizing or undermining the democratic government. Because people really make fun of the democratic government – when you pass a resolution against drone attacks in the parliament and nothing happens. The Americans don’t listen to you, and they continue to violate your territory,” Hasan said in an interview with  the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

“We cannot take on the only superpower, which is all-powerful in the world at the moment. You can’t take them on. We are a small country, we are ill-equipped.” he added.

Last week, Sherry Rehman, Islamabad’s ambassador to the US, said: “We will seek an end to drone strikes and there will be no compromise on that.” The heads of Pakistan’s army and ISI spy service are also lobbying Washington to allow Pakistani forces to carry out any actual strikes against terrorists, based on US intelligence.

Hasan says that anti-US sentiment is reaching dangerously high levels. “Even those who were supporting us in the border areas have now become our enemies. They say that we are partners in these crimes against the people. By and large you will hardly find anybody who will say a word in support of the United States, because of these drone attacks.”

He insists that his country is committed to fighting al-Qaida and extremism. “We’re not opposed to eliminating these al-Qaida chaps. We were not opposed to eliminating Osama bin Laden, because he was declared an international terrorist. If I were there I would have killed him myself.”

The issue, he insists, is the continued violation of Pakistan’s national sovereignty by US drones. “This is a violation of the UN charter, it is a clear violation of our territorial sovereignty and national integrity. These drone violations have been taking place since 2004. And the attacks have killed 2,500 to 3,000 people,” he said.

He also says the US’s commitment in Pakistan and Afghanistan to democracy is weak and there are those in the US government that would still prefer to be dealing with a dictator.

‘Ten years down the road you have not even allowed democratic parties to be active, you are not allowing political parties to exist in Afghanistan. How can you have democracy if you don’t have political parties?”

Pakistan can still play a key role in negotiating peace with the Taliban, but Hasan says that the US has shown little interest in offers of aid.

‘When we have been telling them that you must have a dialogue with the Taliban, good or bad, they never listen to us. Now they have started back-door diplomacy and all these backtracks through the Saudis and others. But again they’re forgetting one thing. Pakistan has been one of the major players in the region, ever since the Soviets occupied Afghanistan. We have had the best relationship with those Afghans, the Taliban or whatever in the past. Couldn’t we be a better option for them to deal with those people? No — they never bothered.’

With the US and Nato intending to withdraw from Afghanistan by 2014, Hasan insists that Pakistan will continue the fight against al-Qaida – but that it cannot accept US drone strikes.

“Bush’s state department said a fortnight before 9/11 that they were opposed to targeted killing [in Israel] because they don’t end the violence. And drone strikes won’t end the violence, they won’t end extremism, they won’t end the Taliban and won’t end al-Qaida.”

Navy SEALs Slam Obama for taking Credit for Bin Laden Killing

Serving and former US Navy SEALs are speaking out against President Obama for basking in the glory of the killing of Osama bin Laden and accused him of using Special Forces operators as a political tool for his re-election campaign.

The SEALs spoke out to http://www.dailymail.co.uk after the Obama campaign released an ad entitled ‘One Chance’ a few months back.

 

In addition to the ad, the White House marked the first anniversary of the raid that killed bin Laden with a series of briefings in addition to an NBC interview in the Situation Room to highlight the “gutsy call” made by the President. A news conference was also used to imply that Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney would have let bin Laden live.

“I said that I’d go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him, and I did,” Obama said. “If there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they’d do something else, then I’d go ahead and let them explain it.”

in 2008 Romney expressed reservations about sending troops into Pakistan.

Ryan Zinke, a Republican state senator in Montana who spent 23 years as a SEAL and led a SEAL Team 6 assault unit, said: “The decision was a no brainer. I applaud him for making it but I would not overly pat myself on the back for making the right call. I think every president would have done the same. He is justified in saying it was his decision but the preparation, the sacrifice – it was a broader team effort.”

Mr Zinke added that Obama was exploiting bin Laden’s death for his re-election bid.

“The President and his administration are positioning him as a war president using the SEALs as ammunition. It was predictable.”

The president has even faced criticism from those on the left. Arianna Huffington, a liberal who runs the left-leaning Huffington Post website, roundly condemned it.

She told CBS: ‘We should celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. It’s one thing to have an NBC special from the Situation Room… all that to me is perfectly legitimate, but to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do.’

A serving SEAL Team member said: “Obama wasn’t in the field, at risk, carrying a gun. As president, at every turn he should be thanking the guys who put their lives on the line to do this. He does so in his official speeches because he speechwriters are smart, But the more he tries to take the credit for it, the more the ground operators are saying, “Come on, man!” It really didn’t matter who was president. At the end of the day, they were going to go.”

Chris Kyle, a former SEAL sniper with 160 confirmed and another 95 unconfirmed kills to his credit, said: “In years to come there is going to be information that will come out that Obama was not the man who made the call. He can say he did and the people who really know what happened are inside the Pentagon, are in the military and the military isn’t allowed to speak out against the commander- in-chief so his secret is safe.”

Senior military figures have said that Admiral William McRaven, a former SEAL who was then head of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) made the decision to take bin Laden out. Tactical decisions were delegated even further down the chain of command.

A former intelligence official who was serving in the US government when bin Laden was killed said that the Obama administration knew about the al-Qaeda leader’s whereabouts in October 2010 but delayed taking action and risked letting him escape.