Sunday, June 14, 2009
Drone attacks successful
At least five militants were killed today in a US drone attack in a tribal area of northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, media reports said. The strike hit vehicles carrying militants in the Laddha area of south Waziristan which according to officials is the main base for Pakistan Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.
Whereas the US Air Force was able to fly only 12 drones at a time just three years ago, it can now operate 34 at a time. When the Air Force first began using drones, it had to rely on fighter pilots taken out of real cockpits and placed in front of stationary consoles equipped with computer screens, keyboard and “stick” to fly the drones from halfway across the world. This only worked until the pilots eventually got the itch to return to the wild blue yonder, forcing the Air Force to begin training pilots specifically for drone missions. Commanders hope that in time young hotshots will see the drones as a career path as viable as flying actual planes, and the Air Force has even devised a special patch graduates will wear on their uniforms to demonstrate their place among the new “top guns” of the military.
IMO: Pakistan is also using cheap drones of their own already and they seem to be pleased with these. However a lot of Pakis want to see more Americans and British dead, and they even want the Taliban to win, and so they still crazily protest against the drones used by the US. In fact they even seem to lie about what they have said to Holbrooke, details here. I don't especially rely on Holbrooke but I would certainly trust him more than the Pakis, by and large. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, drones seem a good relatively cheap way to save money and American lives. Obviously we do not want needless collateral damage but the Taliban seem to take great care to lie and propagandise, to conceal their own losses. FWIW, I'm all in favor on drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Whereas the US Air Force was able to fly only 12 drones at a time just three years ago, it can now operate 34 at a time. When the Air Force first began using drones, it had to rely on fighter pilots taken out of real cockpits and placed in front of stationary consoles equipped with computer screens, keyboard and “stick” to fly the drones from halfway across the world. This only worked until the pilots eventually got the itch to return to the wild blue yonder, forcing the Air Force to begin training pilots specifically for drone missions. Commanders hope that in time young hotshots will see the drones as a career path as viable as flying actual planes, and the Air Force has even devised a special patch graduates will wear on their uniforms to demonstrate their place among the new “top guns” of the military.
IMO: Pakistan is also using cheap drones of their own already and they seem to be pleased with these. However a lot of Pakis want to see more Americans and British dead, and they even want the Taliban to win, and so they still crazily protest against the drones used by the US. In fact they even seem to lie about what they have said to Holbrooke, details here. I don't especially rely on Holbrooke but I would certainly trust him more than the Pakis, by and large. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, drones seem a good relatively cheap way to save money and American lives. Obviously we do not want needless collateral damage but the Taliban seem to take great care to lie and propagandise, to conceal their own losses. FWIW, I'm all in favor on drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
# posted by uv : 4:28 AM
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