Jeff Huber’s recent piece describes the “tragic flaw” of the Obama presidency in his recent Antiwar.com piece: Candidate Obama stuck his nose in the wringer when he deflected criticism of his vote against the surge in Iraq by saying it took vital assets away from the effort in Afghanistan, the “war of necessity.” That may [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Pakistan’
The Tragic Flaw of the Obama Presidency
Posted: October 26, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, al-Qaida, Iraq, Jeff Huber, Obama, Pakistan
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Cursing the Darkness
Posted: October 14, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, al-Qaida, Foreign Policy Magazine, landmines, Michael Scheuer, Pakistan, Rethink Afghanistan, Taliban
Note: Derrick Crowe is the Afghanistan blog fellow for Brave New Foundation / The Seminal. Learn how the war in Afghanistan undermines U.S. security: watch Rethink Afghanistan (Part Six), & visit http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog. At least Michael Scheuer’s snarling, morally bankrupt piece (oddly promoted as the front-page story on Foreign Policy Magazine‘s website) correctly diagnoses the problem [...]
Quetta and Meltdown: U.S. AfPak Policy Visits Crazy Town
Posted: September 28, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, al-Qaeda, al-Qaida, Andrew Exum, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, counterinsurgency, drones, Joshua Foust, Kilcullen, Pakistan, Quetta Shura, Taliban
Note: Derrick Crowe is the Afghanistan blog fellow for Brave New Foundation / The Seminal. You can learn more about the dangers posed to U.S. national security by the war in Afghanistan by watching Rethink Afghanistan (Part Six): Security, or by visiting http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog. Apparently I underestimated the U.S. government’s capacity for crazy. Last week, I [...]
So Much for Airstrike Reduction, Lowering Civilian Casualties
Posted: July 30, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, drones, Pakistan
The United States should pursue strategies in Afghanistan that focus on reducing civilian deaths and enhancing stability. However, a report today by Julian Barnes at the LA Times shows that the U.S. is shifting drones from hunting al-Qaida to attacking suspected Taliban in Afghanistan, a shift likely to cause more civilian deaths and further destabilization. [...]
Brookings Report on Drones Confirms High Civilian Death Rate and Misses the Point
Posted: July 21, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: Brookings Institution, civilian casualties, civilian deaths, Daniel Byman, drones, Leon Panetta, Pakistan
To their credit, the folks over at the Brookings Institution have become one of the first mainstream think tanks to recognize the horrendously indiscriminate nature of drone attacks in Pakistan. Brookings Institute scholar Daniel Byman wrote last Monday: Critics correctly find many problems with this program, most of all the number of civilian casualties the [...]
Use of Drones in Pakistan Violates Christian Doctrine on War
Posted: July 8, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: al-Qaida, Christianity, civilian casualties, drones, Jesus, just war tradition, nonviolence, Pakistan, Taliban
Christians–whether we are adherents of just war tradition or of Christian nonviolence–should not support U.S. policies that kill civilians indiscriminately. However, in the past six days, our government has intensified a policy that does exactly that. The number of suspected U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have spiked dramatically since Friday, July 3, with four strikes [...]
New York Times Again Ignores Civilian Toll of Drone Strikes in Pakistan
Posted: July 8, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: air strikes, airstrikes, civilian casualties, drones, New York Times, Pakistan, Pir Zubair Shah, Salman Masood
The New York Times again referenced the utility of drone strikes in Pakistan when they “avoid civilian casualties” while failing to mention that the overwhelming majority of people killed by U.S. drones in that country are civilians. Again, from a piece by Salman Masood with Pir Zubair Shah contributing: Publicly, Pakistani officials have been critical [...]
NYT Report Propagandizes for Drones, Ignores Civilian Killings
Posted: July 7, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: air strikes, airstrikes, civilian casualties, drones, New York Times, Pakistan, Pir Zubair Shah, Salman Masood
The story in today’s New York Times by Salman Masood and Pir Zubair Shah on the latest drone strike in Pakistan whitewashes the killing of children and tribal elders in an earlier airstrike: “The increased aerial strikes come as Pakistani military is gearing up for an ambitious offensive against Mr. Mehsud and his fighters, who [...]
Pro-War Caucus Running the Democratic Party Ditches the Masks
Posted: June 27, 2009 in UncategorizedTags: Afghanistan, civilian casualties, DCCC, Democrats, Obama, Pakistan, war funding
Recent actions by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and House Democratic leadership reveal that the rationale under which the party solicits funds–electing more Democrats and defeating Republican incumbents–has taken a back seat to a radical, pro-war agenda. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s latest ad shows that Democrats now seek to wrap themselves in the [...]
