David Eden

March 5, 2015

English 1000

Journal 3

In this journal, I will be asking about the CIA’s involvement in the FATA zone and how the people in zone view their drone strikes.

Williams, Brian Glyn. "The CIA's Covert Predator Drone War In Pakistan, 2004-2010: The History Of An Assassination Campaign." Studies In Conflict & Terrorism 33.10 (2010): 871-892. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Mar. 2015.

In this article, the first half talks about how the drone strikes in FATA and how they have been used to kill countless terrorist in Pakistan and FATA.  The CIA claims that the drone’s effectiveness in killing targets is far greater and less costly than the use of foot soldiers.  The treat of drones also is an effective scare tactic because they are undetectable by sound and sight, which means that the Taliban and AL-Qaeda never know when an attack is coming.  This threat has caused the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to abandoned their training camps and move to hidden classrooms and has halted some training of soldiers.  The paper goes on to talk how secretary of state Hillary Clinton has been repeated attacked in the media by Pakistani reporters who hold extremely anti-American views and consistently report to Taliban and Al-Qaeda members.   And consistently reports bring up the fact that several Pakistani officials have publicly condemned the attacks.  These media attacks have also allowed these terrorist groups to gain support and help hold strikes and riots against the American drone strikes, with their argument centered on civilians being killed more in drone strikes than the intended targets.  Later in the paper, a third argument is made about Pakistan’s involvement with the drone program.  They were publicly humiliated, claiming that they had no knowledge about a drone strike that was carried out, and that they blamed Afghanistan for launching the attack.  But when a senator further investigated it, it was found that the predator drone took off and landed at a Pakistani air force base.

This article has really questioned my thinking about the Pakistani government.  They don’t really seem like they agree on many things and they operate in quite a lot of secrecy, even within their own government ranks.  I really am starting to doubt their control over their own country, and that there could possibly be some very wrong things happening within the government.

If I was to synthesize this paper, I would argue that Williams and Fair, as well as Mohammad would agree that some drone strikes are illegal, but Williams would state that the Pakistani government hiding so much, even from itself, that even its operations are questionable at best.  He would that the most effective way to disturb al-Qaeda and the Taliban is through drone strikes, and that the US government must weigh the risks and rewards.

The next questions I would start to ask would be how the CIA goes about ordering a strike, as well as how the drones are operated and used to disrupt terror.