Airmen assigned to the 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron assemble an MQ-1 Predator after returning from Afghanistan May 19 at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. The six images on the side of the MQ-1 Predator symbolize the number of Hellfire missiles shot while in combat. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Larry E. Reid Jr.)From The Danger Room:
The New York Times speaks today with a 28 year-old Pakistani logistics tactician for the Taliban. He’s utterly underwhelmed by America’s war plans for the region — well, except for one element.
The one thing that impressed him were the missile strikes by drones — virtually the only American military presence felt inside Pakistan. “The drones are very effective,” he said, acknowledging that they had thinned the top leadership of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the area.
In this year alone, the U.S. has launched at least 16 unmanned assaults on suspected guerrilla camps in Pakistan. Government officials in both Islamabad and Washington say the robotic strikes have decimated Al Qaeda’s ranks in Pakistan. But recent reports in the local press have portrayed the drones as wildly ineffective, killing only 14 militants while slaying 700 civilians. The Taliban tactician seemed to reinforce the official line, saying that “29 of his friends had been killed in the strikes.” Men no longer gathered in large groups in his home base of Wana, according to the tactician; they’re worried about being seen by the robot planes.
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My Comment: This is not the first time that I have read accounts from Taliban agents who have expressed their fears on American robotic strikes. Even though many counter insurgency experts have publicly voiced their opposition to these type of attacks, I suspect that Predator and Reaper attacks have been far more successful and consistent than what has been reported.
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