ISLAMABAD: According to the Conflict Monitoring Center’s (CMC) annual
report on drone attacks American Spy Agency CIA has failed to eliminate
more than four Al-Qaeda leaders in its highly costly and controversial
’assassination by drones’ campaign inside Pakistan during the year 2011.
75 drone attacks were carried out inside Pakistani territory
during the year 2011 killing 609 people, among which only three were
Arab commanders of Al-Qaeda; one was UK’s most wanted and just four were
senior commanders of different factions of Pakistani militants.
During
the year 2011 collaboration and cooperation between CIA and ISI turned
into confrontation., when , following arrest of CIA agent Raymond Davis
and Abbottabad Operation, ISI busted many modules of local and
international CIA agents active in the country.
This resulted in
deprivation of American agency of human intelligence resources in many
areas of North and South Waziristan, leading to ineffectiveness of the
drone attacks against militant leadership.
During the
confrontation, the CIA also conducted revenge attacks in Pakistan; as
following differences between American State Department and the CIA, at
the occasion of almost every high level meeting between Pakistani and
American authorities, the CIA carried out a drone attack. American
premier agency effectively undermined public diplomacy of its own
government.
Conflict Monitoring Center’s tally of the drone
attacks shows that overall number of drone attacks since 2004 has
crossed the figure of 300, killing 2661, in 303 drone attacks, to-date.
The report notes 43 percent decline in drone attacks during the
year 2011 than 2010. The CIA had conducted 132 drone attacks in 2010.
The Number of fatalities in drone attacks has also dropped by 35
percent.
Mounting protest and public backlash against drone
attacks as well as tension between US and Pakistan during the year led
to the decline in drone attacks. U.S. has suspended drone attacks after
an attack by NATO helicopters on a Pakistani military check post on
November 26, 2011.
American drones fired 242 AGM-114 Hellfire
missiles during the year and destroyed 38 houses, 37 vehicles, one camp
and a Madrassa. One such missile costs for $68000 which means the CIA
spent $16.456 million or 1.5 billion Pakistani Rupees to kill 609
people.
It may become point of concern for American tax payer
that such a huge amount of money was spent just to eliminate four
Al-Qaeda leaders and four Taliban commanders and during the process
strained relations with key US ally in War on Terror, a diplomatic and
political cost which cannot be measured in terms of pennies and dollars
but can impact the overall result of the war against Al-Qaeda and
Taliban.
Contrary to American claims of only 50 civilian deaths
during past eight years, a UK based media organization The Bureau of
Investigative Journalism confirmed that a minimum of 391 and a maximum
of 780 innocent civilians including 175 children have so far been killed
in drone attacks.
Although Pakistani government has publically
opposed Drone attacks but its ’anonymous’ security officials kept
playing dubious role while releasing false details of Drone Attacks,
while also failing to devise any plan to record casualties of civilians
and militants by drone attacks.
No comprehensive compensation
policy for civilian victims of these attacks is in place; however the
government has announced .3 million for each of the victims of infamous
March 17 attack on a peace Jirga in North Waziristan which killed 40
tribesmen.
Drone attacks have emerged as a cause of the problem
rather than a solution., as during the year many public demonstrations
were held against drone attacks in different parts of Pakistan , with
National Assembly, Senate, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkha Assemblies
passing resolutions to condemn drone attacks.
Besides public
protests, there are at least three court cases pending against drone
attacks in three different courts of Pakistan. Online
