 AP Photo As Pakistan spirals out of its grasp, the Obama administration is at last considering halting drone attacks there. Influential military officials such as Colonel David Kilcullen, a former adviser to General David Petraeus in Iraq, have testified that, despite damaging the Taliban leadership and protecting US pilots, the strategy is backfiring. The Taliban's recent gains come on the heels of President Barack Obama's intensification of remotely piloted air strikes "“ 16 strikes in the first four months of 2009 compared with 36 in all of 2008. This scepticism about drones is well placed but a halt is not enough. Only a permanent end to the strategy will win Pakistani hearts and minds back to their government and its US ally. They, like Afghans and Iraqis, are struck less by the... TAGGED: United States, Iraq, Pakistan, Obama administration, David Petraeus, Taliban, David Kilcullen, General, Colonel, adviser to General David PetraeusRECOMMENDED ARTICLES| Gen. David Petraeus, chief of Central Command, has said that Taliban extremists are threatening "the very existence of the Pakistani state." And now that Pakistani, U.S. and coalition forces are fighting the Taliban in Pakistan... more ›› |
| Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced this afternoon that he has "asked for the resignation" of Gen. David McKiernan, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, and that he plans to replace him with Gen. Stanley McChrystal.This... more ›› |
| General David McKiernan, who was sacked yesterday halfway through his tour as commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, was in charge of ground forces during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In the vacuum that followed the fall of... more ›› |
| Obama's plan for Afghanistan assumes stability Iraq. That's the kind of excessive optimism that got Bush in troubleIn dismissing General David McKiernan, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, and replacing him with... more ›› |
| By Michael JacobsonIn April 2009, the U.S. State Department and the European Union released their annual terrorism reports, which paint a varied picture of international counterterrorism efforts to date, with clear progress in... more ›› |
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