Bet that got your attention. :D
I'm reading through this quite long
http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2010/peshawar_declaration_a_path_fo.html">"A Path for Pakistan" document, and found some interesting conclusions, to say the least.
Read this one, with regard to Obama's massive uptick in drone attacks in Waziristan (the mountainous Af-Pak border area):
...The issue of Drone attacks is the most important one. If the people of the war-affected areas are satisfied with any counter militancy strategy, it is the Drone attacks which they support the most. According to the people of Waziristan , Drones have never killed any civilian. Even some people in Waziristan compare Drones with Ababels. (The holy swallows send by God to avenge Abraha, the intended conqueror the Khana Kaaba).<18> A component of the Pakistani media, some retired generals, a few journalists/analysts and pro-Taliban political parties never tire in their baseless propaganda against Drone attacks....
OK, so what propaganda arm of ISAF put this out? You'll be surprised.
On December 12 and 13, a two days workshop/conference was held in Peshawar with the sole agenda “Terrorism - the ways out”. The workshop was attended by the political parties and civil society organizations that actively opposed terrorism. The participants were keen to contribute and participate in discussions regarding the political, ideological, strategic, economic, and cultural and education/ awareness related aspects of the agenda. The participants were divided into Five Groups and they freely expressed their opinions about the topics they had selected by choice. On the first day every group came up with a rough draft. On the second day final recommendations were drawn from the rough drafts. In a commendable show of unity, members with different political affiliations and shades of opinion succeeded in agreeing upon a single document of consensus.
The workshop was attended by the provincial leadership of Awami National Party (ANP), Pukhtunkhwa Mili Awami Party PMAP, Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP), Pakistan Peoples Party Sherpao PPP(S), National Party (NP) and Awami party Pakistan (APP). Civil society organizations under the banner of Amn Tehrik, (Peace Movement) <1> businessmen, doctors, lawyers,
teachers, students, laborers and intellectuals also participated in the workshop. Representatives
from all the agencies of FATA, Swat, Malakand and Buner also participated. A significant number of female participants were also present.
Each group presented its report before the Conference. Every report was critically analyzed, objections raised and recommendations for improvement discussed. It was decided that all the reports should be amalgamated into a joint declaration namely “Peshawar Declaration. A five member committee was constituted to prepare the documentation.
After deliberation it was decided that all the organizations that attended the conference will jointly struggle to translate Peshawar Declaration into actions. For this purpose, ten members Coordination Committee (Rabita Committee) was constituted comprising of members from ANP, PMAP, PPPP, PPP
Sherpao, Awami Party, National Party and Amn Tehrik (Peace Movement). After the discussion the participants made political, ideological and strategic aspects as a single/one report.....
Hopefully this sensational pro-drone position will convince you to read the entire thing. And no, I don't actually believe no civilian has ever been killed by a drone missile attack in the FATA.
This admittedly sank like a stone in GD, but there's a lot of good stuff hidden in there, and if nothing else it's an excellent window into the minds of the people on the ground.
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