The News : 60 drone hits kill 14 al-Qaeda men, 687 civilians

60 drone hits kill 14 al-Qaeda men, 687 civilians

By Amir Mir | April 10, 2009

LAHORE: Of the 60 cross-border predator strikes carried out by the Afghanistan-based American drones in Pakistan between January 14, 2006 and April 8, 2009, only 10 were able to hit their actual targets, killing 14 wanted al-Qaeda leaders, besides perishing 687 innocent Pakistani civilians. The success percentage of the US predator strikes thus comes to not more than six per cent.

Figures compiled by the Pakistani authorities show that a total of 701 people, including 14 al-Qaeda leaders, have been killed since January 2006 in 60 American predator attacks targeting the tribal areas of Pakistan. Two strikes carried out in 2006 had killed 98 civilians while three attacks conducted in 2007 had slain 66 Pakistanis, yet none of the wanted al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders could be hit by the Americans right on target. However, of the 50 drone attacks carried out between January 29, 2008 and April 8, 2009, 10 hit their targets and killed 14 wanted al-Qaeda operatives. Most of these attacks were carried out on the basis of intelligence believed to have been provided by the Pakistani and Afghan tribesmen who had been spying for the US-led allied forces stationed in Afghanistan.

The remaining 50 drone attacks went wrong due to faulty intelligence information, killing hundreds of innocent civilians, including women and children. The number of the Pakistani civilians killed in those 50 attacks stood at 537, in which 385 people lost their lives in 2008 and 152 people were slain in the first 99 days of 2009 (between January 1 and April 8).

Of the 50 drone attacks, targeting the Pakistani tribal areas since January 2008, 36 were carried out in 2008 and 14 were conducted in the first 99 days of 2009. Of the 14 attacks targeting Pakistan in 2009, three were carried out in January, killing 30 people, two in February killing 55 people, five in March killing 36 people and four were conducted in the first nine days of April, killing 31 people.

Of the 14 strikes carried out in the first 99 days of April 2009, only one proved successful, killing two most wanted senior al-Qaeda leaders - Osama al Kini and Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan. Both had lost their lives in a New Year’s Day drone strike carried out in the South Waziristan region on January 1, 2009.

Kini was believed to be the chief operational commander of al-Qaeda in Pakistan and had replaced Abu Faraj Al Libi after his arrest from Bannu in 2004. Both men were behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Dares Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, which killed 224 civilians and wounded more than 5,000 others.

There were 36 recorded cross-border US predator strikes inside Pakistan during 2008, of which 29 took place after August 31, 2008, killing 385 people. However, only nine of the 36 strikes hit their actual targets, killing 12 wanted al-Qaeda leaders.

The first successful predator strike had killed Abu Laith al Libi, a senior military commander of al-Qaeda who was targeted in North Waziristan on January 29, 2008.

The second successful attack in Bajaur had killed Abu Sulayman Jazairi, al-Qaeda’s external operations chief, on March 14, 2008.

The third attack in South Waziristan on July 28, 2008, had killed Abu Khabab al Masri, al-Qaeda’s weapons of mass destruction chief.

The fourth successful attack in South Waziristan on August 13, 2008, had killed al-Qaeda leader Abdur Rehman.

The fifth predator strike carried out in North Waziristan near Miranshah on Sept 8, 2008 had killed three al-Qaeda leaders, Abu Haris, Abu Hamza, and Zain Ul Abu Qasim.

The sixth successful predator hit in the South Waziristan region on October 2008 had killed Khalid Habib, a key leader of al-Qaeda’s paramilitary Shadow Army.

The seventh such attack conducted in North Waziristan on October 31, 2008 had killed Abu Jihad al Masri, a top leader of the Egyptian Islamic group.

The eighth successful predator strike had killed al-Qaeda leader Abdullah Azzam al Saudi in east of North Waziristan on November 19, 2008.

The ninth and the last successful drone attack of 2008, carried out in the Ali Khel region just outside Miramshah in North Waziristan on November 22, 2008, had killed al-Qaeda leader Abu Zubair al Masri and his Pakistani fugitive accomplice Rashid Rauf.

According to the figures compiled by the Pakistani authorities, a total of 537 people have been killed in 50 incidents of cross-border US predator strikes since January 1, 2008 to April 8, 2009, averaging 34 killings per month and 11 killings per attack. The average per month killings in predator strikes during 12 months of 2008 stood at 32 while the average per attack killings in the 36 drone strikes for the same year stood at 11.

Similarly, 152 people have been killed in 14 incidents of cross-border predator attacks in the tribal areas in the first 99 days of 2009, averaging 38 killings per month and 11 killings per attack.

Since September 3, 2008, it appears that the Americans have upped their attacks in Pakistani tribal areas in a bid to disrupt the al-Qaeda and the Taliban network, which they allege is being used to launch cross border ambushes against the Nato forces in Afghanistan.

The American forces stationed in Afghanistan carried out nine aerial strikes between September 3 and September 25, 2008, killing 57 people and injuring 38 others. The attacks were launched on September 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 15, 17, 22 and September 27. However, the September 3, 2008 American action was unique in the sense that two CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters landed in the village of Zawlolai in the South Waziristan Agency with ground troops from the US Special Operation Forces, fired at three houses and killed 17, including five women and four sleeping children.

Besides the two helicopters carrying the US Special Forces Commandos, two jet fighters and two gun-ship helicopters provided the air cover for the half-an-hour American operation, more than a kilometre inside the Pakistani border.

The last predator strike on [April 8, 2009] was carried out hardly a few hours after the Pakistani authorities had rejected an American proposal for joint operations in the tribal areas against terrorism and militancy, as differences of opinion between the two countries over various aspects of the war on terror came out into the open for the first time.

The proposal came from two top US visiting officials, presidential envoy for the South Asia Richard Holbrooke and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. However, the Pakistani military and political leadership reportedly rejected the proposal and adopted a tough posture against a barrage of increasing US predator strikes and criticism emanating from Washington, targeting the Pakistan Army and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and creating doubts about their sincerity in the war on terror and the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban.

Reuters : U.S. visit feeds Pakistani worry over U.S. attack

U.S. visit feeds Pakistani worry over U.S. attack

By Robert Birsel | July 13, 2008

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, visited Pakistan on the weekend, fueling speculation that the United States was about to take action against militants in northwest Pakistan.

Pakistan has been a close U.S. ally in the global campaign against terrorism but the United States has become increasingly frustrated at what it sees as insufficient effort by Islamabad to fight militants on the Afghan border.

A U.S. embassy spokeswoman confirmed that Mullen had made a one-day trip to Pakistan on Saturday, but said she had no details about his meetings. Pakistani military and government spokesmen were not available for comment.

Pakistani newspapers said Mullen, in talks with Pakistani military commanders and leaders of a new government, had expressed deep frustration with growing cross-border militant attacks and had called for decisive action to stop it.

"Sources quoted Mullen as complaining that militants were moving across the border with greater liberty now than during the previous government," the Dawn newspaper said.

Pakistan's semi-autonomous ethnic Pashtun tribal belt on the border has became a sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants fighting Western soldiers in Afghanistan and against security forces in Pakistan where 15 soldiers were killed on Saturday.

The U.S. Pentagon said last month insurgent havens in Pakistan were the biggest threat to Afghan security.

Pakistan has ruled out allowing foreign troops onto its soil although U.S. pilotless drones have been increasing their flights, and attacks, over the Pakistani side of the border.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi sought in talks in Washington on Friday to assure the United States his country was doing all it could to fight militants on the border.

"QUITE AGGRESSIVE"

What Pakistanis see as a more aggressive U.S. action on the border has fueled speculation of a U.S. thrust.

Last month, 11 Pakistani border soldiers were killed in a U.S. air strike as U.S. forces battled Taliban militants.

On Saturday, Pakistan lodged a protest with the United States over fire from Afghanistan on Thursday that wounded six Pakistani soldiers. Afghanistan's NATO force blamed militants for the fire saying they were trying to "spark a border incident".

Feeding the worry, some U.S. politicians, including presidential candidate Barack Obama, have said the United States could attack al Qaeda inside Pakistan without Pakistani approval.

A new government took power after President Pervez Musharraf's allies were defeated in February elections, vowing to negotiate an end to violence, but U.S. commanders in Afghanistan say such peace efforts have led to more militant attacks there.

Many Pakistanis oppose the U.S. campaign against militancy and blame Musharraf's cooperation with the United States for inciting violence. Any U.S. action in Pakistan would only exacerbate the problem, they say.

The News newspaper said Mullen was accompanied by officials of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency: "Apparently the Americans were quite aggressive in their claims," it said.

NATO commanders in Afghanistan have said there mandate goes only as far as the border and their troops would go no further but such statements have done little to dampen speculation of a

U.S. attack into Pakistan.

"Newspapers keep reporting this but there is an understanding between the government of Pakistan and the NATO and U.S. forces which I don't think the U.S. would violate," said a senior Pakistani official, who declined to be identified.

But an analyst said limited U.S. strikes were possible.

"I would not say that they would come with full ground forces because they understand that would be a great folly," said security analyst and retired general Talat Masood.

"But it is possible that if they find that there is a cluster of militants which has to be dealt with, they might land some commandos," he said.

(Additional reporting by Augustine Anthony; Editing by David Fox)

© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

NYT : Feedback for the Chairman of Joint Chiefs

Feedback for the Chairman of Joint Chiefs

By THOM SHANKER | Published: October 24, 2007

FORT SILL, Okla., Oct. 23 — Adm. Mike Mullen invited candor from the Army on Tuesday, and he got it: questions from young captains frustrated by what they described as disciplinary problems in the ranks, shoddy health care for their spouses and children, and depots emptied of combat gear needed for training.

With the conflict in Iraq now nearly a year longer than American involvement in World War II, Admiral Mullen, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also asked whether senior officers had considered putting a limit on how long any one soldier could be deployed in combat.

“Is there a point where we can say, sir, ‘Enough’?” one captain asked.

“I recognize the sacrifice,” Admiral Mullen responded, adding that the current American military had acquired the most combat experience in the nation’s history, “and I don’t want to lose that” through a lack of re-enlistments. He said the service chiefs had made it a priority to balance combat deployments with time at home.

The visit to the Army’s artillery center here on the red clay flatlands of southwest Oklahoma was Admiral Mullen’s first stop on a tour of three Army installations to meet with troops and underscore his attention to the effect of combat deployments on soldiers and marines.

In a 90-minute session filled with give-and-take, he spoke with more than 100 officers, most of them captains attending a course to help prepare them for higher command. In response to some questions, he asked for e-mail addresses so he could follow up with more complete answers, a pledge that surprised, and pleased, his listeners.

Admiral Mullen told them his priorities were to “reconstitute, reset, revitalize” a military strained by long deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, and the officers told him repeatedly that their morale remained high.

But they made clear that their families wanted some relief. And the captains themselves wanted assurances that they would have first-class troops to lead and enough quality equipment to train for success.

As part of an effort to expand the ground forces and fulfill deployments, the Army has lowered the bar on some of its standards for new soldiers, and the officers at Fort Sill told Admiral Mullen that the move had caused a new set of problems.

One Iraq veteran said he had witnessed increased disciplinary problems among troops, which he attributed to the enlistment of recruits with lower academic credentials as well as some who have been granted “moral waivers,” a step that allows those with minor criminal records to join up.

This captain, whose name was withheld under ground rules for reporters observing the session, spoke of training all day and then having to spend much of the night on disciplinary action. Of the roughly 100 soldiers in his unit, about a dozen had been caught selling drugs or going absent without leave.

“Making sure we do not break our military is a huge priority for me,” said Admiral Mullen, who vowed to review statistics on discipline so he could gauge any impact of the current recruiting standards.

Most of the officers wore a combat patch representing a past deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. At the rank of captain, they are rapidly approaching a five-year mark that allows them to end their active-duty service, and the decision forces them to weigh continued commitment to the military against commitments to marriage and family.

“All I want to do is start a family, buy a house, have stability,” said one, who expressed readiness to return to Iraq so long as he and his wife had assurance that they could settle at a single military post and not be transferred to a new unit when he returned from combat.

Another officer, an Iraq veteran, said his wife, now pregnant with their second child, complained that the pediatric care she sought from their local military hospital was substandard. As a result, he said, he is now planning to separate from the Army within the year.

The admiral called caring for families of deploying military personnel a “vital issue.” But he also noted that military doctors and nurses sent from bases like Fort Sill to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan were themselves “working overtime.”

One captain told the admiral that because of the focus on Iraq, combat equipment at home for training was “either broken, outdated or improperly maintained.”

Admiral Mullen said he was pressing for money to repair or replace combat gear. “It’s going to take some time to solve that,” he said.

Before continuing on his tour, with stops later Tuesday at Fort Leavenworth and on Wednesday at Fort Riley, both in Kansas, the admiral assured the young officers that he had heard them.

“I don’t offer instantaneous solutions,” he said. “But I know what’s on your mind.”

BBC : US military chief states mission

US military chief states mission

October 2, 2007

The new top military adviser to US President George W Bush has said he wants to prepare the military for challenges beyond Iraq and Afghanistan.

At his swearing-in ceremony as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen said he wants to revitalise the armed forces.

Meanwhile, the FBI is to investigate US security firm Blackwater over the deaths of 11 Iraqis last month.

US politicians are also to question the company's chairman about the incident.

Iraq war doubts

At a ceremony at Ft Myer, Virginia, presided over by President Bush, Admiral Mullen said: "The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will one day end.

"We must be ready for who and what comes after."

Adm Mullen takes over from Gen Peter Pace.

He said he wants to plan to support US interests in the Middle East and "to reset, reconstitute and revitalise our armed forces, especially our ground forces".

Some military officials have said the focus on counter-insurgency warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan has left the military unprepared for other types of operations.

Admiral Mullen has openly expressed doubts over the war in Iraq.

His swearing-in came as the FBI confirmed it is to send a team of investigators to Iraq to look into Blackwater's role in the shooting deaths of 11 Iraqi civilians in September.

The Iraqi government says Blackwater agents opened fire without provocation. The company says insurgents attacked first.

In Washington on Tuesday, a Congressional committee is to question the firm's chairman, Erik Prince, as part of a hearing into the role of private security firms in Iraq.

A report by the US Congress reveals the company fired 122 people in three years for problems ranging from violent behaviour to drug use.

The report says Blackwater employees were involved 195 shooting incidents in Iraq from the beginning of 2005 until 12 September this year, causing 16 Iraqi casualties.

The report does not say how many of these were deaths.

There is concern about how private security firms, especially Blackwater, operate in Iraq.