US drone strikes since Imran Khan came to power

[faraz39]

0. Zero. Nada. Sifr.

 

[Sirris]

I wouldn't be so sure.

It has to do with the fact that the Trump govt doesn't make the data publicly available.

 

[faraz39]

It would still come out as there would be bodies and their families. You can't hide stuff like that anymore.

 

[Slog]

They ended in pml-n times lol. Seriusjy stop taking credit for everything

 

[Syed1]

There hasn't been a drone strike in a long while lol

 

[Poutine]

There weren’t any drone attacks during PML-N’s government either were there?

 

[Sirris]

There weren’t any drone attacks during PML-N’s government either were there?

There have been recorded drone strikes in Pakistan till 2017. Afterwards the data hasn't been made public. Most famous drone strike during PMLN era would be the one at Mullah Akhtar Mansour in 2016. It was special because not only did it targeted the chief of Afghan Taliban but also that it happened in balochistan and outside the typical fata region.

 

[Sirris]

It would still come out as there would be bodies and their families. You can't hide stuff like that anymore.

I think the number of drone strikes might be a single figure but there surely are the odd strike here and there. There is/was a total media blackout for the north Waziristan operation and most certainly things can be hidden.

Besides the frequency of drone strikes had gone considerably low long before Imran Khan came to power due to the Zarb-e-Azb operation in North Waziristan. Many surviving militants fled to Afghanistan.

On May 21, 2016, the United States conducted its last drone strike in Pakistan under Obama, killing then-Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in Balochistan. No strikes were conducted in the last eight months of the administration.

On January 20, 2017 Donald Trump became president and inherited a drone war in Pakistan that had halted. On March 2, the Trump administration conducted its first strike in Pakistan ending a more than nine month pause in strikes.

https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/americas-counterterrorism-wars/pakistan/

It makes little sense to give credit to Imran Khan since the Americans themselves saw little use of the strikes. I would have given him credit if there had be a huge number of strikes and Imran Khan had publicly told Americans to stop and they had obliged.

 

[cric_man]

Lets be clear on this subject. Each and every drone strike conducted was with Pak Army cooperation and or knowledge. If Pak Army wanted to stop them, they would have been stopped.
It gave Pak Army/Government plausible deniability via a vis pakistani awam.

 

[Mamoon]

Of course it is down to Imran.

The mighty khan, with his 10 inch sole Peshawari chappal and leather jacket said “no” to the U.S. and they quivered in fear.

Cheetah. Koi poochay tu bolna khan aya tha.

 

[Haroon786]

0. Zero. Nada. Sifr.

Fair to say, that would be the Pak Military's domain and probably been stopped or drastically reduced since Raheel Sharif was in charge?

 

[ahsan17]

Can't really credit this to IK. It was on a downward trajectory well before IK came into the office. Also, FATA has been cleansed of terrorists so I am not sure how many of them are remaining there anyway. Those that are there are probably in hiding and don't have safe havens.

 

[King-Misbah]

Can't really credit this to IK. It was on a downward trajectory well before IK came into the office. Also, FATA has been cleansed of terrorists so I am not sure how many of them are remaining there anyway. Those that are there are probably in hiding and don't have safe havens.

Imran was still instrumental in raising awareness and getting the drones stopped in Pakistan. Credit still goes to Imran.

 

[Sirris]

Lets be clear on this subject. Each and every drone strike conducted was with Pak Army cooperation and or knowledge. If Pak Army wanted to stop them, they would have been stopped.
It gave Pak Army/Government plausible deniability via a vis pakistani awam.

Can we hold Pak Army accountable for the civilian casualties then?

 

[PakPremi]

Of course it is down to Imran.

The mighty khan, with his 10 inch sole Peshawari chappal and leather jacket said “no” to the U.S. and they quivered in fear.

Cheetah. Koi poochay tu bolna khan aya tha.

Lol nice post after long time.
However it's all because of IK and USA trying to have good relation and understanding. How long will it last who knows.

 

[faraz39]

Last recorded drone strike was in July 2018 against Abdullah Dawar which was during PMLNs tenure. There were 5 in 2017 and 3 in 2016. But please go ahead and tell me they stopped during PLMNs rule.

Yes I am sure it is just one big coincidence that strikes completely when IK, known vocal critic of drone strikes for years, was elected PM.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/428296/us-drone-strikes-in-pakistan/

 

[faraz39]

IK leads an anti drone March in 2012:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/06/imran-khan-march-us-drone-warfare-pakistan

Later that year IK is detained and questioned at US airport over his anti drone stance:

https://www.cnn.com/2012/10/27/world/pakistani-imran-khan-drones/index.html

The only national leader to have consistently spoken out against drone strikes apparently played no part (plus the military which was allowing it to begin with) in ending then when he came to power according to some of you.

 

[kk1992]

Last recorded drone strike was in July 2018 against Abdullah Dawar which was during PMLNs tenure. There were 5 in 2017 and 3 in 2016. But please go ahead and tell me they stopped during PLMNs rule.

Yes I am sure it is just one big coincidence that strikes completely when IK, known vocal critic of drone strikes for years, was elected PM.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/428296/us-drone-strikes-in-pakistan/

IK leads an anti drone March in 2012:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/06/imran-khan-march-us-drone-warfare-pakistan

Later that year IK is detained and questioned at US airport over his anti drone stance:

https://www.cnn.com/2012/10/27/world/pakistani-imran-khan-drones/index.html

The only national leader to have consistently spoken out against drone strikes apparently played no part (plus the military which was allowing it to begin with) in ending then when he came to power according to some of you.

None of the PML or self righteous auntia will come back to respond to your facts because they won't know how to twist the facts to malign current government.

 

[faraz39]

If they resume (hopefully not for the sake of Pakistan), I will admit my mistake.

 

[AdamM97]

Credit goes to the military, not to any political party.

 

[faraz39]

Credit goes to the military, not to any political party.

So then the blame also goes on the army for allowing it for a decade? And then what changed all of a sudden for them to stop the Americans?

The only variable that did change was the election of IK. Otherwise there were no changes in other key stakeholders. Don't get me wrong, I believe the army was definitely allowing it and played a part in stopping it too but not because they saw the light and realized allowing foreign countries to kill your citizens on your soil is egregiously cowardly and wrong.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I think drone warfare isn't seen as favourably by western countries as it was back then. Too many innocent victims, and perhaps a realisation that with other countries developing similar technology, it could be used against western countries as well at some point.

Imran Khan was definitely at the forefront of the drive to halt drone strikes in Pakistan.

 

[cric_man]

Can we hold Pak Army accountable for the civilian casualties then?

Yes. The alternative would have been to deploy 100k+ troops in Waziristan that was vehemently opposed by the tribals. And would have resulted in much more bloodbath.

 

[faraz39]

Yes. The alternative would have been to deploy 100k+ troops in Waziristan that was vehemently opposed by the tribals. And would have resulted in much more bloodbath.

I agree that's likely why the Pak Army and gov't allowed the drone strikes to happen but the optics of a foreign country droning your people at will are really really bad. I can't think of a single other country (other than war torn ones such as Somalia, Syria, Afg, etc.) where a foreign country strikes at will like the US did in Pakistan for a decade. It was really shameful and showed that lives of Pakistanis in Northern Areas meant nothing.

 

[cric_man]

I agree that's likely why the Pak Army and gov't allowed the drone strikes to happen but the optics of a foreign country droning your people at will are really really bad. I can't think of a single other country (other than war torn ones such as Somalia, Syria, Afg, etc.) where a foreign country strikes at will like the US did in Pakistan for a decade. It was really shameful and showed that lives of Pakistanis in Northern Areas meant nothing.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Musharraf had asked Rumsfeld to provide airlift assets to deploy 60k troops at the border (leap frogging the actual tribal areas in transiting through FATA). That was declined. US expected to crush Al Qaeda in their initial aerial bombardment. However, for whatever inexplicable reason majority of hardcore Al Qaeda fighters (Arabs, Uzbek, Chechens) were allowed escape into Pakistani tribal areas. OBL was cornered in the caves on Tora Bora, but was allowed to ride out on a donkey into Pakistan. These fighters were provided shelter in the tribal areas under the Pakhtoonwali code. Pak establishment still tolerated that until they started to go across and target coalition forces. If you recall. Musharraf actually took credit for first strike on a madarrasah that killed over 70 people. It became a PR nightmare as they the locals said these were allegedly innocent boys at a seminary.

Post Musharraf, Kiyani (most useless and corrupt COAS) punted the decision to launch ground offensive to the civilian leadership knowing full well that the corrupt Zardari & co had no idea or will power to do anything. Same goes for PML-N leadership. It took Raheel Sharif to unilaterally take the decision to launch ops Zarb-eAzb, Rah e Rast, Radd ul Fisaad to retake and hold territory post APS. In doing to Pak Army suffered 30k+ casualties and over 1M+ IDPs were created.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Of course it is down to Imran.

The mighty khan, with his 10 inch sole Peshawari chappal and leather jacket said “no” to the U.S. and they quivered in fear.

Cheetah. Koi poochay tu bolna khan aya tha.

Imran promised this before being elected and delivered.

Are you not happy Pakistani children are now safe from US drone strikes? Over 300 have been killed by the Yanks.

 

[cric_man]

Imran promised this before being elected and delivered.

Are you not happy Pakistani children are now safe from US drone strikes? Over 300 have been killed by the Yanks.

Last US drone strike happened in Feb 2018. PTI Government was sworn in Sep 2018.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Last US drone strike happened in Feb 2018. PTI Government was sworn in Sep 2018.

This strike took place but TBIJ have confimred they cannot be sure it was on the Pakistan side of the border. It was on Afghan soil as Pak made a strong clear statement to Yanks , no more now, otherwise why just 1?

 

[cric_man]

This strike took place but TBIJ have confimred they cannot be sure it was on the Pakistan side of the border. It was on Afghan soil as Pak made a strong clear statement to Yanks , no more now, otherwise why just 1?

I was saying that the strikes had stopped well before PTI government came into power. had nothing to do with IK.

 

[KingKhanWC]

I was saying that the strikes had stopped well before PTI government came into power. had nothing to do with IK.

Ok.

Its interesting as soon as IK was in the race for winning the next election, they also decreased.

 

[cric_man]

Ok.

Its interesting as soon as IK was in the race for winning the next election, they also decreased.

Most of the times, Causation does not equal correlation

 

[Mamoon]

Did you know?

Imran Khan wrote the 1940 Pakistan Resolution speech for Allama Iqbal, 12 years before he was born.

 

[minamino]

Only IK fans could come up with such threads.

 

[InziRules]

Instead, the government now hands over people directly to the US and has let FATF confiscate anyone's money for being a dedicated Muslim

 

[MRSN]

Imran was still instrumental in raising awareness and getting the drones stopped in Pakistan. Credit still goes to Imran.

But yet Army or establishment didn't follow his policy and yet they are here with sucess. I don't get how IK fan take credit for this. IK wanted bed of roses for TTP goons yet Pak army launched offensive operations to clear areas from their hold. Really some PTI fans need history lessons. If anything Taliban Khan title he got was because IK was in favor of talks with people who wanted to make a state within state and were killing dozens of people on daily basis with other criminal acts.

 

[faraz39]

When people begin to reply in sarcasm, you know they have nothing valuable to say anymore. I presented my case with facts and sources. If all some people can do is mock in response, that shows they have nothing to respond with.

 

[ahsan17]

Instead, the government now hands over people directly to the US and has let FATF confiscate anyone's money for being a dedicated Muslim

And you think they did that in exchange for not having drone strikes? If not, I don't see the relevance here.

 

[faraz39]

And you think they did that in exchange for not having drone strikes? If not, I don't see the relevance here.

It's just a deflection technique here because they have no evidence. So now they will bring in other unrelated things.

 

[Sirris]

Yes. The alternative would have been to deploy 100k+ troops in Waziristan that was vehemently opposed by the tribals. And would have resulted in much more bloodbath.

In the end the troops were deployed anyway.

I think Pak Army was arrogant or at least deceitful towards the tribal. Not something shocking since the elitist in the army have an holier than thou attitude towards any civilian. If they had bothered to gain the respect of the tribals and approached them at an eye to eye then perhaps TTP would have never grown into the monster that it did nor would there have been PTM.

The first victim of the drone strike was tribal leader: Nek Muhammad Wazir. A tribal leader who was killed only a few days after the government had signed the "Shakai" peace agreement with them. Ironically the peace agreement explicitly mentioned the Nek Wazir won't be harmed by the government.

With regards to drone attacks I don't think Pak Army had any authority on the matter. I don't think they could have refused the strikes if they really wanted to.

As far as the alternatives are concerned I think a far better alternative would have been to show patience and try to win the trust of the tribal leaders.

 

[cric_man]

In the end the troops were deployed anyway.

I think Pak Army was arrogant or at least deceitful towards the tribal. Not something shocking since the elitist in the army have an holier than thou attitude towards any civilian. If they had bothered to gain the respect of the tribals and approached them at an eye to eye then perhaps TTP would have never grown into the monster that it did nor would there have been PTM.

The first victim of the drone strike was tribal leader: Nek Muhammad Wazir. A tribal leader who was killed only a few days after the government had signed the "Shakai" peace agreement with them. Ironically the peace agreement explicitly mentioned the Nek Wazir won't be harmed by the government.

With regards to drone attacks I don't think Pak Army had any authority on the matter. I don't think they could have refused the strikes if they really wanted to.

As far as the alternatives are concerned I think a far better alternative would have been to show patience and try to win the trust of the tribal leaders.

Like I said hindsight is 20/20. In my view, FATA should have been part of KPK long before and governed as such. And not left to its own devices. Secondly, I think government should a lot of patience. The area was used as sanctuary and to stage attacks on coalition forces for a good 2 years before drone strikes started to happen. I know things are not always black or white. But when the US had no Pak co-operation (after salala post attack), you had 0 drone attacks. There may have been a few that CIA conducted on its own. But if Pak Army wanted them stopped, they would have been stopped.

 

[Sirris]

Like I said hindsight is 20/20. In my view, FATA should have been part of KPK long before and governed as such. And not left to its own devices. Secondly, I think government should a lot of patience. The area was used as sanctuary and to stage attacks on coalition forces for a good 2 years before drone strikes started to happen. I know things are not always black or white. But when the US had no Pak co-operation (after salala post attack), you had 0 drone attacks. There may have been a few that CIA conducted on its own. But if Pak Army wanted them stopped, they would have been stopped.

When I said patience I meant the time period after signing the first agreement. Either don't sign it in the first placeand if you do then don't kill the guy you signed the agreement with couple days later because that is only going to harm the trust and the reputation.

Yes I am working with a lot of hindsight here and that's ok. I in no way want to imply that I'd have been able to handle things differently and better. My goal is to understand the conflict better, recognize the mistakes that were made so that we can learn from them and those who were responsible can be held accountable and are at the very least made to acknowledge and apologize for them.

The army hid a lot things from the public and intentionally spread a false narrative which needs to be discussed and exposed because keeping them hidden has led to misguided point of views and a creation of a dangerous rift between different part of the society.

I wish for a public voice which is in between the two extremes of PTM and the "army can do no wrong and it's every action should be justified till death" groups.

 

[cric_man]

When I said patience I meant the time period after signing the first agreement. Either don't sign it in the first placeand if you do then don't kill the guy you signed the agreement with couple days later because that is only going to harm the trust and the reputation.

Yes I am working with a lot of hindsight here and that's ok. I in no way want to imply that I'd have been able to handle things differently and better. My goal is to understand the conflict better, recognize the mistakes that were made so that we can learn from them and those who were responsible can be held accountable and are at the very least made to acknowledge and apologize for them.

The army hid a lot things from the public and intentionally spread a false narrative which needs to be discussed and exposed because keeping them hidden has led to misguided point of views and a creation of a dangerous rift between different part of the society.

I wish for a public voice which is in between the two extremes of PTM and the "army can do no wrong and it's every action should be justified till death" groups.

Totally agree. If we don't learn from our mistakes. We are bound to repeat them over and over again. We saw what happened when East Pakistan was marginalized. We have done same in Baluchistan, and to some extent in Karachi. When you alienate a certain portion of your populance it breeds ill will that mashrooms up under ground and blows up.