K & P

Saying 'No' to drone strikes

New survey shows 9 out of 10 people in Fata oppose the US military and drone campaign in their region.

Express September 30, 2010

A recent survey shows nine out of every ten people in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) of Pakistan oppose the US military and drone campaign to pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban in their region.

The public opinion survey (available here), conducted by the New America Foundation and Terror Free Tomorrow, interviewed a thousand FATA residents across 120 villages in all seven tribal Agencies of FATA.

The locally-based Community Appraisal & Motivation Programme conducted field work while the United States Institute of Peace, a congressionally funded think tank, provided funding. The poll was conducted before the floods from June 30 to July 20, 2010.

Nearly 70 per cent of the respondents wanted the Pakistani military alone to fight Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in the tribal areas.

One out of every ten also think that suicide attacks against Pakistani forces are justified while almost six in ten believe attacking the US military is justified.

Nearly 75 percent oppose the drone strikes with only 16 percent thinking that drones strikes accurately target militants. Obama is understandably not very popular in the region with 83 per cent of the residents viewing him unfavorably.

Nearly 80 per cent of the respondents are against the US-led ‘war on terror’ but they also oppose the presence of al-Qaeda and Taliban in their region. Fata residents think that their opinion of America would improve if American policies in the region changed. Fata residents also support the Pakistani Army, with 70 per cent backing the Pakistani military war against al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the tribal areas.

Polls conducted on The Express Tribune website show similar results. In July, readers were asked if drone attacks in Fata were justified. A majority (64 per cent) of the responses were ‘No.’ When asked again whether they were ‘for or against drone strikes?’ in September, 68 per cent of the respondents said they were against them.

Are you for or against drone strikes in FATA?

For: 46

Against: 101

Total: 147 (September 21, 2010)

Are drone attacks in FATA justified?

Yes: 68

No: 119

Total: 187 (July 18, 2010)

Other findings from the report by New America Foundation can be found in their report here.

COMMENTS (8)

Nageen | 14 years ago | Reply Drone is inhuman! With many US states being against Capital Punishment, how can they kill people so mercilessly. Further, it has been noted, that at times children and women have also became victims of the drone attacks. Hence, drone is not just killing the extremist but also families (meaning elderly, women and children). I strongly feel that we should have a better strategy or incase if a war is a MUST then we should have a better war strategy as this is taking us nowhere. 1/3 of Pakistan is under flood, 1/3 under drone and what remains are a few cities. With loosing 2/3 of ourselves, how can we promise our children a better future. We love children irrespective of whether they are american or latin or Pakistani because they are innocent. So we must emphasize that NATO and ISAF should device a strategy that will not harm innocent familes because a toddler's body loathed in blood is an extremely disturbing sight! Restore peace but in the effort dont kill those who wish to see dawn peacefully one day!

indigenous | 14 years ago | Reply FATA is not a monolithic administrative unit rather it is comprised of 7 districts/agencies .Beside North and South waziristan which are inhabited by same tribes and are geographically close to each other with cultural and administrative/business ties,the other agencies of the region(FATA) have very less cross cutting ties with each other. Now if we come to drone attacks in FATA,95% attacks have occurred only in North Waziristan and to be more specific the attacks were mostly carried out in the border area with Afghanistan where Haqqani group is active. The New America Foundation Survey does not breakdown the responses in terms of each agency and which could be very important in understanding that how people sees the attacks where these attacks are occurring i.e North Waziristan Agency and it would have helped us in understanding about accuracy of these attacks and civilian death tolls. So in terms of perception,the inhabitant of Malakand Agency and for that matter any Agency in FATA are dependent on the mainstream media to make their views as any where else in settled Pakistan.

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faraz | 14 years ago | Reply @Sohail I am not supporting drones, i am talking about army operations which have approval of 70 percent tribals. Its a brutal insurgency and its impossible to arrest people who are ready to blow themselves up. Whoever holding a gun, has to be killed. The courts and witnesses are too afraid to go against these heavily armed groups whose members list runs into thousands; look at Molana burqa of Lal masjid, he is free as a bird. Taliban have killed thousands of innocent citizens and they own it. 95 percent of attacks are owned by these groups operating in FATA. There is no solution to your state of denial.

Sohail | 14 years ago | Reply What are the reasons for courts? why courts exits? Is this the best way for justice? What is the charge on the people killed? Where are the evidences? @Faraz & @Bangash, you are the terrorists, you should also be targeted by Drones? Actual thing is that, we are able of all this.

ADE | 14 years ago | Reply Wake up Pak Army! These are Pakistani citizens too! Stop being racist just because America hasn't attacked Punjab yet. When they can mess up these regions, they can mess up the very heart of the country too, let me warn you. Groups with names like 'Punjabi Taliban' are an impending threat. Save your country fo god's sake before it gets too late

Farah | 14 years ago | Reply The United States has no business conducting these strikes in Pakistan. Most of the claims are unsubstantiated and not verified by independent observers. Every other person killed has been claimed to be a third in command of Al Qaeds for the last two years. This is just to justify Pentago's huge budget and for political gains in the US. Pak Army should do whatever is needed. If it is our war, we should fight it. Are we that useless that we cannoy even defend a small part of our country.

Bangash | 14 years ago | Reply Drone strikes are effective against terrorist leadership and should continue. The people of FATA made a giant mistake in welcoming Taliban and are now mere spectators.

faraz | 14 years ago | Reply Its satisfying to see that tribals hate taliban and support our army's operations against them. Shame on taliban apologists like Imran khan who claim that these terrorists are pushtoon nationalists.

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