The US & others working with Pakistan

[jmm99]

Hi Ray et al.:

Thanks to our favorite Brigadier (albeit you're the only one here ) for the drone post re: Pakistan attempting to influencing the UK. Other factors (to the same effect as the Pakistani claims) are at work in the UK, as well as here in the US.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has been pounding the drones - as its front page today shows. The TBIJ (About the Bureau) is:

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is a not-for-profit organisation based at City University, London, that bolsters original journalism by producing high-quality investigations for press and broadcast media.

The first of its kind in the UK, it was established in April 2010 with a £2 million donation from The David & Elaine Potter Foundation. ...

The TBIJ and the Obama Administration are engaged (verbally, of course).

Also engaged verbally with the Obama Administration on the same topic is Philip Alston (from this side of the pond), former UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions. He has published a long article (164 pages), The CIA and Targeted Killings Beyond Borders, in the Harvard National Security Journal.

What effect all of this will have on the UK is not my department.

Its effect on the US (except for those like Alston who are already anti-drone) is likely to be minimal. Current US polls are running 80%+ in favor of President Obama's drone policy.

Regards

Mike