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'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' in Pakistan Drone War: McKiernan |
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Updated at:
0515
PST, Wednesday, November 19, 2008 |
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WASHINGTON: U.S. top commander in Afghanistan said he doesn't have anything to do with the flurry of U.S. killer drone attacks in the nearby border regions of Pakistan.
In an interview with Pakistan's newspaper, General David McKiernan, the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan said, "these drones do not come under my command."
It's part of a delicate diplomatic dance surrounding the stepped-up unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) strikes against the Pakistani-based militants who have become one of the leading dangers for coalition forces in Afghanistan. A U.S. newspaper calls it "a don't-ask-don't-tell policy" for the robotic assaults.
"The U.S. government refuses to publicly acknowledge the attacks while Pakistan's government continues to complain noisily about the politically sensitive strikes."
This wink-wink-nudge-nudge approach is made easier because the drones hitting Pakistan aren't being operated by the U.S. military, it seems. The Central Intelligence Agency is remotely-flying the UAVs.
Hence Gen. McKiernan's statement. "For more context, unmanned aerial vehicles operating within the borders of Afghanistan may fall under his command," a spokesman for McKiernan e-mails. "But anything in Pakistan would not come under his command. As Gen. McKiernan often puts it, his mandate stops at the Afghan border." |
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ISSN 1563-9479 
