One of
Islamabad’s most senior diplomats has told the Bureau of Investigative
Journalism that ongoing CIA drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas are
weakening democracy, and risk pushing people towards extremist
groups.
He also claims
that some factions of the U.S. government still prefer to work with “just one
man” rather than a democratically-elected government, and accuses the U.S. of
“talking in miles” when it comes to democracy but of “moving in
inches.”
As High
Commissioner to London, Wajid Shamsul Hasan is one of Pakistan’s top
ambassadors. Now four years into his second stint in the post, he is no stranger
to controversy. In an extended interview with the Bureau, Ambassador Hasan
argues that U.S. drone strikes risk significantly weakening Pakistan’s
democratic institutions:
“What has been
the whole outcome of these drone attacks is, that you have rather 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.”
The army too
risks being seen as impotent, he warns the United States.
“Please don’t
embarrass us by violating our territory because people question why the hell we
have such a huge standing army, where we spend so much on our national defense
budget, when we can’t defend ourselves?”
On Friday Sherry
Rehman, Islamabad’s ambassador to the United States, said that “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
U.S. intelligence.
The reason,
according to Ambassador Hasan, is that anti-U.S. sentiment is reaching
dangerously high levels in Pakistan because of the drones:
“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. So they hate us as
well. They hate the Americans more. If you look at the Pakistan-U.S.
relationship, we have received a lot of money from the Americans, and yet
they’re the most hated country in Pakistan among the people. By and large you
will hardly find anybody who will say a word in support for the United States,
because of these drone attacks.”
Mr Hasan was
also scathing about what he sees as the U.S.’s weak commitment towards democracy
in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also implies there are those in the U.S.
government who would still prefer to be dealing with a dictator.
thebureauinvestigates.com
The U.S.
government is known to have used drones to carry out lethal attacks in at least
six countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. Washington
Post Drone operations
have become a hallmark of the Obama administration's "counterterrorism
campaign." He ordered the first drone strike of his presidency just 72 hours
after he took office. The United
Nations has identified the U.S. as the world's number one user of "targeted
killings" largely due to its drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
CNN Human rights
activists have also condemned drone strikes for the high number of civilian
casualties. The Obama administration claims drones are important in taking out
al-Qaeda-linked militants. Express Tribune U.S.
assassination drone strikes have killed as many as 2,800 civilians in
northwestern Pakistan over the past seven years, according to Shahzad Akbar,
Pakistani attorney and director of the Foundation for Fundamental Rights -- an
organization that has investigated the U.S. drone operations in
Pakistan.
SAR/HJ
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