Peace Pundit

On Friday, 13 January 2006, according to the SF Chronicle (Sun 15 Jan 2006), a missile fired from a CIA Predator drone hit a compound in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan. The attack reportedly targeted a dinner gathering of several top al Qaeda officials, including #2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri. However, according to local sources, al-Zawahri and his entourage had decided not to attend the dinner. Instead, local people said that 17 Pakistani civilians were killed, including women and four children. [See archived stories from: UK Observer and MSNBC]

In response, I sent the following letter to the Chronicle.

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Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 19:05:49 -0800
To: letters@sfchronicle.com
From: Jeff Johnson
Subject: Letter to Editor

Editor,

Re: “Pakistanis outraged at U.S. after air strike kills civilians” (Sun. Jan 15):

Pakistanis have every right to be outraged after 17 of their fellow citizens, including children, were killed by a missile launched remotely by the CIA from a Predator drone. They have every right to be protesting in the streets.

My question is, where is the outrage in the U.S. over this incident? Imagine the outrage here if Pakistani agents pursuing a fugitive in the U.S. killed 17 U.S. citizens in a bungled attempt to kill their man.

We should not leave the protests over these 17 deaths to the Pakistanis. We U.S. citizens should protest the deaths, either in street demonstrations or by writing Congressional representatives and the President. We must tell our elected officials that such attacks — which have a very high likelihood of killing or injuring innocent people — are unacceptable.

Let’s be frank: this air strike was an act of terror committed by the U.S. government. We cannot allow this.

Sincerely,
Jeff Johnson