Directly Proportionate

April 02, 2010

Studies show that the drone attacks in the NWFP against militants have caused more harm than benefit; they’re fueling the terrorists, leaving them with the want to avenge more death and destruction, regenerating more militants in place of the few and promoting an anti-U.S. sentiment amongst Pakistani citizens in general.

Official reports of the civilian causalities from the drone attacks in the NWFP from 2009 vary between 20 and 700, the former being an official report given by U.S. military personnel to a leading U.S. newspaper; the latter, Pakistan’s failed cry for attention (or a slightly watered-down version of the truth). Independent resources say 32% of all casualties are civilian.

I do not believe the American’s are against us (please recall the “you are either with us or with the terrorists” speech by President Bush in the wake of 9/11). They have assured us of “change we can believe in” and constantly boosted our ego with chants of “yes we can”. Hussain (Obama) spoke to us directly in his beautifully crafted speech delivered in Cairo. It contained all the right elements to woo the Muslim Ummah: carefully calculated pause for applaud, a pinch of hope and quotations from the Qur’an added to taste. I believe that joint efforts of the U.S. administration are working towards a more sustainable Pakistan by bringing peace to the region and *insert other oft-repeated empty phrase here*.

But why, you ask, has there been no tangible change? Mr. Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Advisor to the U.S. Department of State, explained how the Obama government had to ensure more continuity in the international relations department than change; because you can’t turn a ship around in a day – that, and they were aiming for a shift in the “attitude toward international law”. [Fact: there were 45 drone attacks in Pakistan during the entire Bush era, in comparison to the 51 of Obama’s term so far.] He reiterated how the war in Afghanistan was not an “American war” but one “joined by forty-three other countries… in an effort to defend ourselves and all nations from further attacks… [from Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and all associated forces who] continue to attack us. We are acting in response to the, horrific 9/11 attacks and may use force consistent with its inherent right to self-defense under international law.”

Mr. Koh said there were two rules governing operations to ensure that they were in fact consistent with principles of the law of war; these are: distinction (making sure your targets aren’t civilians or civil objects) and proportionality (requiring the “collateral damage” to be proportionate to the benefits of the operation).

Let’s do the math for the sake of proportionality. It has been nine years since the attack on 9/11 which killed almost 3,000 people; since, about 103,000 civilians have lost their lives in Iraq, and “hundreds of thousands” (there are no exact figures – opinions vary) in Afghanistan and the uncounted in Pakistan. This ought to put the “distinction” argument in perspective too. But, we are the joint forces who are at war, because it’s not an American war, to protect American soil, even though all “collateral damage” seems to be levied on us. Distinctly proportionate.

Gist of the story, says Mr. Koh: “U.S. targeting practices, including lethal operations conducted with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, comply with all applicable law, including the laws of war.” As for the question of “sovereignty” that General Kayani keeps harping on, we’re told that the U.S. does not consider the NWFP part and parcel to Pakistan as it has its own legal and social code (thank you amendment number one million to the Constitution). They say that because Baluchistan is following the rest of Pakistan with regard to its legal framework, it remains within the bounds of Pakistan, ergo, out of bounds of the U.S. drone attacks; that is, until they can come up with another excuse. Amen.

I would like to say this: President Hussain, please put money where your mouths at. I’d like you to refrain from floral language and give it to us straight. If you can, try to stay out of our business and let us figure out our lives. As for the Pakistani government, please start realizing and educating others of the “numbers” detailing lives we’ve lost in this “war on terror”. Why aren’t our “Names of the Dead” honorably displayed in our newspapers and in our government buildings (in the U.S. House, every Representative has a board of pictures of soldiers from their district that have lost their lives in this war and newspapers print updates lists of names)? Why is it that we can honor the likes of Iftikhar Chaudhry and not those who lay their lives on the line for us every day without any recognition of their sacrifices? Let’s conduct a “long march” for them and the police/army personnel conducting traffic check posts and show appreciation for what they do instead of cursing at them under our breath as we inch through traffic; they want to be there just as much as we do.

Studies have also shown that generally suicide attacks, although advertised as being conducted in fervor of a religion, are all freedom fighters who want an end to foreign occupation (see also: Chechnya and female suicide bombers). Therefore, in the words of Allama Iqbal: “Let's try hard to stop insulting each other and to prevent all kinds of violence.”