The disclosure by United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, that CIA’s unmanned Predator aircraft striking targets in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas are flown from an airbase inside Pakistan is going to prove politically wrenching for Islamabad.
The disclosure dovetails with a statement by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi that Pakistan and the US are soon going to discuss a new strategy regarding drone attacks because these attacks are “not acceptable” to Islamabad.
On her part, Senator Feinstein, at a hearing, is said to have expressed surprise at Pakistan’s protests, saying, “As I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base”. In other words, the US senator is saying, “What’s the fuss about when they are in on it?” The Central Intelligence Agency has declined to comment on the statement, which is noteworthy for lack of outright denial.
Senator Feinstein’s statement also becomes credible because undisclosed former US intelligence sources, according to the report, have confirmed that the account is accurate.
FULL ARTICLE
15 February 2009
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