Kathy Gilsinan, The Atlantic: The Drone War Crosses Another Line
America took an unprecedented step over the weekend.
Following the death of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour in an American drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry remarked that “Peace is what we want” in Afghanistan. “Mansour,” he said, “was a threat to that effort.” Confirming Mansour’s death on Monday, President Barack Obama said the Taliban’s chief, who had held the position officially for less than a year, had “rejected efforts by the Afghan government to seriously engage in peace talks and end the violence that has taken the lives of countless innocent Afghan men, women and children.”
The strike that killed Mansour crossed numerous lines that have constrained America’s fight with the Taliban, and its drone war in Pakistan, up to this point. It was remarkable for its location and timing, as well as the public acknowledgment that accompanied it. Mansour was reportedly killed while traveling in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, where much of the Taliban’s leadership has been based since being driven out of Afghanistan following the U.S. invasion in 2001.
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Update: US targeted Taliban emir Mullah Mansour in unprecedented Pakistan drone strike (Long War Journal).
Previous Post: A Shift In U.S. Strategy In the Afghan War
WNU Editor: The war has shifted in Afghanistan in the past two years .... the Taliban are winning .... so (of course) the U.S.-Afghan war strategy is changing. I am just surprised that Taliban leader Mansour did not take more precautions for his safety .... either he was betrayed and targeted, or he believed (or was told) that he was immune from any U.S. strike. Either way .... a new reality is now emerging in this war .... and I would not be surprised if the Taliban AND certain elements within the Pakistan government and its intelligence agencies are worried on what will the U.S. do next, and who else is on the CIA kill list that is being tracked right now.
5 comments:
If it was the Russians it won't be no redline
"and I would not be surprised if the Taliban AND certain elements within the Pakistan government and its intelligence agencies are worried on what will the U.S. do next,"
That is a bizarre statement. I am not saying it is not true nor cogent.
But if the Pakistanis were our allies, they would not be worrying what we would do next.
Pakistan has never been Americas allies in truth.
Osama being parked up the road from the Pakistani intelligence services put an end to that myth
The Muj killing US Ambassador E. Dubs in the Kabul Embassy , back in Feb. 1979, while the CIA laughed, put to bed the idea of Allies, Government or Policies.
Yup, CIA/ ISI backed Muj killed a US Ambassador, in the Embassy, because he was reporting to State on the fall out from the Carter, Brezinski plan to blow up Afghanistan.
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