Feb 23, 2009 12:00 PM

Drone War Backlash Forces Covert Op Disclosure (Updated)

A backlash against the American drone war in Pakistan has forced officials in Islamabad and Washington to reveal fresh details on another covert U.S. operation on Pakistani soil. This one involves "more than 70 United States military advisers and technical specialists… training Pakistani Army and paramilitary troops, providing them with intelligence and advising on combat […]

A backlash against the American drone war in Pakistan has forced officials in Islamabad and Washington to reveal fresh details on another covert U.S. operation on Pakistani soil.

This one involves "more than 70 United States military advisers and technical specialists... training Pakistani Army and paramilitary troops, providing them with intelligence and advising on combat tactics," the New York Times reports.

The training program, which involves Special Forces trainers, combat medics, and communications experts, has been public knowledge for months. But its size and scope have been kept under wraps, until now.

Officials from both Pakistan and the United States agreed to disclose some details... to help dispel impressions that the
[drone] missile strikes were thwarting broader efforts to combat a common enemy. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the increasingly powerful anti-American segment of the Pakistani population.

(So... these officials won't give their names, because the Pakistani public is upset about American operations on their soil. But they'll talk all about those inflammatory missions to the New York Times? I'm confused...)

Anyway, the paper reports "both sides are encouraged by the new collaboration." A "newly minted 400-man Pakistani paramilitary commando unit" is now under a separate "chain of command" from the rest of the country's military, and ready to fight the Taliban. American-trained Pakistani forces are providing targeting tips, for the drones to hit.

But unnamed "Pakistani Army officers," quoted by the Times, seem to have a different view. They say that "the American strikes draw retaliation against Pakistani troops in the tribal areas, whose convoys and bases are bombed or attacked with rockets after each United States missile strike."

UPDATE: Raise your hand if you believe this one: "The United States has told Pakistan the drones using Pakistani bases are surveillance drones... and not the Predator drones that launch missiles into the tribal areas in a campaign targeting al Qaeda leaders." Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

[Photo: USAF]

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