Robot wars

Two very contrasting ways of looking at our relationship with Pakistan. I don't know where I stand, to be honest.

If you are interested in the topic you owe it to yourself to read both articles , because I had a hard time finding an appropriate section to quote in each case.

Here is Johann Hari in The Independent, "Obama's Robot Wars":

"David Kilcullen is a counter-insurgency expert who worked for General Petraeus in Iraq and now advises the State Department. He has shown that two per cent of the people killed by the robot-planes in Pakistan are jihadis. The remaining 98 per cent are as innocent as the victims of 9/11. He says: "It's not moral." And it gets worse: "Every one of these dead non-combatants represents an alienated family, and more recruits for a militant movement that has grown exponentially as drone strikes have increased." (from The Independent)

At the same time, here's a quote from Zalmay Khalilzad in a New York Times piece "Get Tough on Pakistan"

"The United States should demand that Pakistan shut down all sanctuaries and military support programs for insurgents or else we will carry out operations against those insurgent havens, with or without Pakistani consent. Arguments that such pressure would cause Pakistan to disintegrate are overstated. Pakistan’s institutions, particularly the country’s security organs, are sufficiently strong to preclude such an outcome." (from The New York Times)