CIA seeks expansion of drone fleet: Report
US officials said that CIA Director David H Petraeus moved the proposal to strengthen the spy service’s campaign of launching strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. The CIA might further its drone campaign towards budding al Qaeda threats in North Africa or other trouble spots, if directed.
The officials revealed that once the proposal is approved, the CIA could add as many as 10 drones to an inventory that has ranged between 30 and 35 over the past few years.
However, officials from the White House, the CIA and the Pentagon declined to comment on the proposal. The officials, who revealed the details of this development, spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Washington has been pushing Islamabad for years to carry out a military offensive in the area against the Haqqanis, who have launched some of the most audacious attacks on the US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan.
Despite Islamabad’s repeated protests, the Obama Administration is not willing to halt the CIA drone campaign in the tribal areas — notwithstanding Islamabad’s offer of a new mechanism suggesting use of drones only for surveillance.
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Good news for Pakistan.
A very rational, humane, and a cost-effective proposal under the circumstances!
The vast majority of those killed in Drones are militants/jihadis. A large number of whom are foreigners. Even those people wouldn't be here if Pakistan Army did its job instead of playing double games.
But surely if the Pak government could control its own lands and patrol its borders and stamp out the fundamentalist none of this would be required.
These people are a threat to the US and they will defend themselves
This won't even get serious debate in the USA and will get approval easily.
And most of them will be killing innocents in Pakistan. The least we could do is to take non-invasive measures such as installing tactical communication jammers at key locations to counter the drones.