STOP U.S. MISSILE STRIKES AGAINST PAKISTANI VILLAGERS

Today we receive another report of the U.S. firing missiles from drone aircraft aimed at Taliban and jihadists living in the Wahiristans in the tribal territories in western Pakistan. The latest strike reportedly killed 27 "insurgents."

The BBC reports:

"The missile strike hit a house in the South Waziristan area, near the Afghan border, which officials said was used as a hide-out for Taleban militants.

"The US has carried out more than 20 air strikes from drones in north-western Pakistan in recent months. . .

"Islamabad has long argued that US air strikes complicate its own fight against insurgents, and violate its sovereignty.

Pakistani leaders had expressed hope that the new US administration of Barack Obama would halt the controversial manoeuvres."

When the U.S. government reports death tallies like the one above, the important question is how many of the dead were women and children? And how many were just ordinary Pakistanis just eking out their traditional lives in a remote rustic village?

These U.S. raids do no good, but, in fact, cause much resentment and hatred by Pakistanis universally for the Americans and for the U.S. Pakistan is a proud country, and the Pakistanis are never going to forget how the U.S. violated their territorial integrity by sending in the drones as well as Special Forces. Just as Americans would be outraged if Russia sent its missile-firing drones into U.S. airspace, so Pakistanis feel about the U.S. actions, which, by the way, clearly and totally Pakistani national law.

Obama needs to bring these raids to an end, once and for all. Military might raining from the sky will never make Pakistani villagers allies of America.