The CIA grows doubtful about the use of drones.
Earlier in the week, the United Nations called on the U.S. to halt the CIA-led drone assault in Pakistan (but not the use of drones by the U.S. military, which they viewed as more accountable). Now comes a report that mid-level CIA officers are concerned about the drone program as well:
CIA officers "are very upset" with the drone strike policy, Addicott said. "They'll do what the boss says, but they view it as a harmful exercise. They say we're largely killing rank and file Pakistani Taliban, and they are the ones who are agitated by the campaign."
Because the drone strikes kill innocent civilians and bystanders along with leaders from far away, they "infuriate the Muslim male", said Addicott, thus making them more willing to join the movement. The men in Pakistan's tribal region "view Americans as cowards and weasels", he said....
The complaints by CIA operatives about the drone strikes' blowback effect reported by Addicott are identical to warnings by military and intelligence officials reported in April 2009 by Jonathan Landay of McClatchy newspapers. Landay quoted an intelligence official with deep involvement in both Afghanistan and Pakistan as saying al-Qaeda and the Taliban had used the strikes in propaganda to "portray Americans as cowards who are afraid to face their enemies and risk death".
The official called the operations "a major catalyst" for the jihadi movement in Pakistan.
The decision to expand the use of drones from "high level al Qaeda figures" to members of the Pakistani Taliban has been defended on the grounds that the two groups are too closely intertwined to make a clear distinction and as a favor to Pakistan, which views the Pakistani (but not Afghan) Taliban as a clear threat.
I tend to view drone strikes as the "least worst" option, especially when compared to a full blown counter-insurgency (which isn't an option in Pakistan anyway). But we may need to be more selective in our targeting. It will be a cold comfort to knock off senior al Qaeda leaders if we wind up destabilizing Pakistan as a result.
