(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) THE PENTAGON is keeping close tabs on Al Qaeda and its closely choreographed moves in the form of drone attacks are, nonetheless, yeilding results with high-value targets being claimed.
The reported killing of A Qaeda's second-in-command, Abu Yahya Al-Libi, is a case in point. Though the dreaded organisation hasn't come out with a statement, security analysts believe that the attack on a hideout in North Waziristan in Pakistan's restive remote, bordering Afghanistan, has killed Libi and at least 15 other militants. If so, then it is a morale booster for Washington, irrespective of how much it would have annoyed Islamabad, which has been at pains in normalising its relationship with the lone superpower.
The increasing magnitude of drone attacks inside Pakistan, however, is bound to resurface as another unending irritant in their ties. The going solo approach of the United States is in need of being addressed, as it trigger a rise in the level of extremism with which Pakistanis are already tired of.
Though the government of President Asif Ali Zardari is hand-in-glove with the Obama administration in enabling the drones' fly down to their desired targets, the toned down protests are indeed meant for public consumption. This hypocrisy at work in policy has not been able to achieve the objective of winning the war against terrorism.
Rather, it has come to buoy the terrorists and enable them to find refuge with the downtrodden class by exploiting their social immobility and the government's path of connivance with foreign powers. The drone destruction is up for debate.
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