U.S. missile strike kills 20 militants in Pakistan

[Turborama]

Source: MSNBC

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Unmanned U.S. drone aircraft Tuesday fired four missiles into North Waziristan, a major sanctuary for al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan, killing at least 20 insurgents, local officials said.

The missiles struck a fortress-like compound and a vehicle in Ghulam Khan village on the Afghan border early in the morning.

"Some of the militants were on foot. They had just returned from Afghanistan when they were hit," an intelligence official in the region said.

"So far, the death toll is 20."

The attack happened in the Bangi Dar village of North Waziristan, a tribal region that is a base for insurgents responsible for many of the attacks on U.S. and NATO forces just across the border in Afghanistan.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40208773/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

[nosmokes]

1. Wanna bet?

I have no doubt there are 20 dead Pakistan residents, but I'll wager large about the militant tag.

[sabrina 1]

2. Drones should be outlawed not that that would stop this arrogant

government from using them. But they are the most cowardly way of fighting and have killed mostly civilians, women and children.

I view them as evil. Anyone who has read accounts of the slaughter of innocent people by U.S. drones, the family members unable to even find bodies, all they can find are arms or legs of their children. Horror reigning down on innocents by a brutal, heartless government. And for what?

I love these sanitized reports. Every one of them claims they killed 'militants'. But as the released documents from Wikileaks have proven, most of the time it is civilians. Not to mention where the U.S. gets its information. As some in the military have admitted, often they get false information from people who want to have someone they don't like, killed.

This whole Afghanistan war is a crime, and I cannot believe that people, even on the left, ever supported it.

[cpwm17]

4. Yes, this is a crime which is being perpetuated by criminals

You can't have a crime without a criminal or criminals.

We are brainwashed to think that the US Federal Government, especially the President, is allowed to commit mass murder without consequences. If fact most Americans refuse to call it mass murder and consider it the talk of wild-eyed extremists.

So the genuine extreme is considered normal, in this case it's mass murder. The US Federal Government does this to folks from different countries and mostly, but not always, when it's committed against people of a different color.

This is classic authoritarianism. The rules for us don't apply to the powerful. Unfortunately it's bipartisan in the US.

President Barack Obama needs to be held accountable. Fat chance it will ever happen.

[saigon68]

6. The more I see the "Present Occupant" do this

The less respect I have for him

In fact-- all this war making will be his ultimate undoing in the next round of voting

[Ginto]

10. Like Dresden and Hiroshima this is a war crime. Only on a smaller scale.

Some things never change.

[defendandprotect]

13. Agree ... thank you!

[truth2power]

3. I need a playbook. What's the difference between a militant and

an insurgent, again? Are they both terrorists?

If Americans opposed foreign drones attacking us on our own soil, would we be insurgents, or patriots? So confusing...

[de novo]

5. If it's dead, it's a terrorist.

We are sewing the seeds of hate and revenge for a generation.

[Scuba]

7. ...and incites 22 others to militancy just two kilometers away.

[placton]

8. those damn militant babies, moms, and kids!

now that's what we want a PRESIDENT to do!

[sabrina 1]

12. Yes, tragic isn't it? This is what we worked so hard

for. Change. MORE drones was what change meant. We will have to be very careful when deciphering the words of politicians in the future. Who would have guessed?

[Yavapai]

9. Kind of reminds me of...

a conversation I had with the guy who collects money from people who use the rural local trash dump here.

After my commenting on the large number of ravens seen there, he mentioned the fact that Arizona law
protects ravens but allows the killing of crows. I asked him how he could tell the difference
between the two. He said "all the dead ones I see out there are the crows."

Bet it works much the same way in Pakistan.

[awoke_in_2003]

11. "fortress-like compound"

a lot of people in that part of the world live in homes surrounded by walls. Is that the new definition of "fortress-like compound"?

[Arrowhead2k1]

14. Unless they were engaged in combat, then everyone of these people were cold bloodedly murdered.

I don't care who they were. If they did something wrong/illegal, then they deserve their day in court at the very least.

If a mass murderer was running around stateside and we found out where he and his family lived, would it be ok to execute an aerial strike on his house? Why is it ok to do essentially the exact same thing in a foreign country?

[Nihil]

15. Yep.

> Unless they were engaged in combat, then everyone of these people were cold
> bloodedly murdered.

Exactly right.


> If a mass murderer was running around stateside and we found out where he and
> his family lived, would it be ok to execute an aerial strike on his house?

Wait for PATRIOT III ... :hide:


> Why is it ok to do essentially the exact same thing in a foreign country?

Just the usual American exceptionalism, move along, nothing to see ...