Stop NATO News: April 22, 2011

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Updates on Libyan war: April 22

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America’s Century Of The Drone

Pakistan: U.S. Drone Attack Kills At Least 25, Wounds 20 More

Pakistan: U.S. Evacuates Base Used For Drone Missile Attacks

U.S. Military Chief Widens Rift With Pakistan

Afghanistan: NATO Air Strike Kills Four Road Workers

NATO Air Strike Kills Three Afghan Civilians

U.S. And French Submarine Commanders Meet In Naples

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America’s Century Of The Drone

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hF3C-S92bEb8wj8V8pX8gIdky68w?docId=CNG.1c90e35dcf8cd5714333aa0e426df297.351

Agence France-Presse
April 22, 2011

US drones: weapons of choice in overseas wars
By Mathieu Rabechault

-One patrol dedicated to the Global Hawk, a drone which focuses on surveillance and intelligence gathering, counts at least 400 people, according to Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Black, Predator and Reaper functional manager in the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Task Force.
-In 1999 there were only 150 pilots trained to “fly” drones. But…there will be 10 times more by 2013.
Some 82 US Air Force Predators and 26 Reapers are currently deployed in combat zones….And that is not counting those deployed by the CIA in Pakistan.
-”The requirement is so fastly emerging that we need 500 crews,” said Colonel Dean Bushey, deputy director of the Joint Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence.
-[T]he Air Force plans to step up combat patrols from 50 in 2011 to 65 in 2013 – involving almost 12,000 personnel and around 250 drones at any given time.

WASHINGTON: In gruelling conflicts in Pakistan and now Libya, the spotlight is being thrust on America’s use of pilotless drones…..

Behind each drone is a team of specialists helping to pilot the aircraft – capable of unleashing deadly missiles against targets on the ground – to their destinations. And the military says they are desperately short-staffed.

In the conflicts triggered in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the drones came increasingly to the fore in Iraq and Afghanistan….

If the Tomahawk cruise missile was America’s much-touted precision weapon in the first Gulf War two decades ago, then Predator and Reaper drones are among the machines of choice in the 21st century.

On Friday, Libyan rebels welcomed a US decision to deploy armed drones to help them in their bloody bid to oust veteran leader Moamer Kadhafi.

But the increasing use of drones has also been mired in controversy, especially in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where they have been blamed for inadvertent strikes on civilians, inflaming anti-US sentiment.

A US drone strike targeting the Taliban militants in northwest Pakistan on Friday killed 23 people including three civilians, military officials in the region said.

US military officials say that even if there is no pilot in the cockpit, the drones can still only function thanks to an army of specialists.

“There is really nothing unmanned about the system at all, except for that little piece of fiberglass at the front end of the system,” said retired Lieutenant General David Deptula, former US Air Force deputy chief of staff.

“They are very human. We believe we have more people in the loop regarding these remotely piloted systems than we do in manned systems,” he told a conference organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

One drone combat air patrol (CAP) can involve as many as 180 people – once you count the pilots on the ground, the mechanics, the intelligence analysts.

They are also in charge of four actual drone machines and maintain cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week over their given zone.

One patrol dedicated to the Global Hawk, a drone which focuses on surveillance and intelligence gathering, counts at least 400 people, according to Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Black, Predator and Reaper functional manager in the Remotely Piloted Aircraft Task Force.

In 1999 there were only 150 pilots trained to “fly” drones. But…there will be 10 times more by 2013.

Some 82 US Air Force Predators and 26 Reapers are currently deployed in combat zones, Black said. And that is not counting those deployed by the CIA in Pakistan.

“We have most of our assets in the fight. They stay in the fight, they don’t rotate back out because I don’t have to pull my people in and out to give them breaks,” Black added.

Drone operations are run from the Creech Air Force base, close to Las Vegas in the western sate of Nevada. Being able to keep the human task force close to home has definite advantages in helping the missions run smoothly abroad.

“I leave a very small footprint forward and everything is back here in the States. Here’s the big plus: almost 90 percent of our people are in the fight and always in the fight,” Black said.

“I go in the box, I do my mission, I go home to mama, I wash the car on Saturday and then I come back out and I get right back in the fight.”

But even with the flexibility afforded by the drone system, the Air Force still doesn’t have enough personnel.

“The requirement is so fastly emerging that we need 500 crews,” said Colonel Dean Bushey, deputy director of the Joint Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center of Excellence.

And at the current rate of operations, it’s even difficult to keep one drone back for training purposes.

“I can not take a MQ-1 Predator to the National Training Center in San Diego because we don’t have it, they’re all in the theater right now. And every time we produce one we send it on the theater,” Bushey said.

“As we increase our CAPs overseas, we reduce the assets available to train new pilots.”

The manpower shortage is not going to ease up any time soon, as the Air Force plans to step up combat patrols from 50 in 2011 to 65 in 2013 – involving almost 12,000 personnel and around 250 drones at any given time.
….

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Pakistan: U.S. Drone Attack Kills At Least 25, Wounds 20 More

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/22/49304029.html

Voice of Russia
April 22, 2011

US drones kill 25 in Pakistan

At least 25 people were killed, while up to 20 others were wounded when US drones attacked a residential compound in North Waziristan, in the northwest of Pakistan, on the Afghan border, earlier today. This comes in a report by Pakistani State Television with reference to the local authorities.

This was the first missile strike following the one on March 17th, when some 40 people were killed while more than 20 others wounded, in air attacks on the area.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry voiced a protest to the United States against the March strike.

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Pakistan: U.S. Evacuates Base Used For Drone Missile Attacks

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/22/pakistan.drone.strike/?hpt=T2

CNN
April 22, 2011

U.S. departs Pakistan base, source says
By Nick Paton Walsh and Nasir Habib

-The departure of American personnel — if confirmed — would be significant because of increasing strain between Islamabad and Washington sparked by the drone attacks and the Raymond Davis affair in which a CIA contractor fatally shot two Pakistani men in a Lahore neighborhood.

Islamabad, Pakistan: U.S. military personnel have left a southern base in Pakistan said to be a key hub for American drone operations in the country’s northwestern tribal areas, a senior Pakistani intelligence official told CNN on Friday.

Drones are said to take off and get refueled for operations…from the Shamsi Air Base in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

News of a possible U.S. departure comes amid a public furor over American drone attacks, which have killed civilians.

A suspected U.S. drone strike Friday in the Pakistani tribal region killed 25 people, including eight civilians and 17 militants, a Pakistani intelligence source said. Another one on March 17 killed 44, mostly civilians.

Another senior Pakistani intelligence official, who did not want to be identified discussing a sensitive issue, confirmed Americans had been using the base as a center of operations for launching drone strikes. He was not able to confirm if the Americans had left.

The first official said that American personnel were no longer operating out of the base, but he could not say whether they had left voluntarily or at the request of the Pakistani government.
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A U.S. military official who did not want to be identified told CNN: “There are no U.S. forces at Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan.” He did not respond at the time or in writing to queries as to whether U.S. personnel had been based there in the past.

The departure of American personnel — if confirmed — would be significant because of increasing strain between Islamabad and Washington sparked by the drone attacks and the Raymond Davis affair in which a CIA contractor fatally shot two Pakistani men in a Lahore neighborhood.

It has always been unclear how many drone bases the United States operates in or near Pakistan. But Friday’s attack in North Waziristan that killed 25 people would indicate the United States maintains the capability to strike tribal areas with drones.
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In Friday’s attack, a drone fired five missiles on a hideout in Mir Ali of North Waziristan, one of the seven districts of Pakistan’s volatile tribal region bordering Afghanistan, two intelligence officials said.

[T]he attack also killed at least three women when one of the missiles hit a house next to the targeted compound, officials said. The Pakistani intelligence source identified the slain civilians as five women and three children.

Friday’s drone strike was the 20th this year, compared with 111 in all of 2010, based on a CNN tally.

The strike comes two days after Pakistan issued a strongly worded statement condemning deadly suspected U.S. drone strikes in the country’s tribal region.

“Drone attacks have become a core irritant in the counterterror campaign,” a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. “We have repeatedly said that such attacks are counterproductive and only contribute to strengthen the hands of the terrorists.”

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U.S. Military Chief Widens Rift With Pakistan

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/04/22/49317968.html

Voice of Russia
April 22, 2011

Admiral Mullen has widened the rift between the US and Pakistan
Boris Volkhonsky

-On Thursday, US President Barack Obama declared that drone strikes will be used not only in the war against the Taliban, but also in the air operation against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. Well, the Americans have e wide experience and the drones have proved to be a very useful thing when it comes to killing civilians.

A visit to Pakistan by the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen earlier this week was aimed at diminishing the growing divisions between the two strategic partners in this volatile region of the world. The tensions between the two countries have been growing ever since the beginning of the US “anti-terrorist” campaign against neighboring Afghanistan, but lately have become an issue not only endangering bilateral relations, but capable of undermining all efforts to combat terrorism in the area.

The US claims that Pakistan is doing too little to eliminate the Taliban-related groups based on its territory, especially those taking refuge in the tribal area in the north-west of the country. For anyone who has ever visited that area such claims sound ridiculous: the rough rugged terrain hardly enables any major offensive by any outside force, and the tribal and clan links between people living there (and overwhelmingly not being members of any militant group) enables the small groups of their relatives to safely hide there for indefinitely long. The lesson was too well learned by the British in the 19th century and by the Soviets in 1980s. Now, Americans seem to repeat those mistakes or, rather demand that such mistakes be made by others, in this case – by Pakistan.

On the other hand the main claim that Pakistan has against the US activity is the notorious drone missile strikes, aimed at insurgents but killing anyone on the ground and mostly women and children.

The rift between the two countries lately has become even wider, with drone strikes continuing and the insurgents still hiding in the tribal area. But the “catch 22” of the situation is that neither of the two countries is in a position to totally abandon their strategic partnership. However limited the operations launched by Pakistani Army could be, without them, the whole country might become a safe haven for terrorist overnight.

Therefore, Washington’s officials very well understand the need for building stable and possibly friendly relations with Pakistan. And Admiral Mullen’s visit to Islamabad primarily had this purpose in view.

But something went wrong. Admiral Mullen repeatedly stressed Washington’s “long-term commitment to supporting Pakistan in its fight against violent extremists.” On the other hand, other US officials made conflicting statements showing that the two countries are far apart in their understanding of how the fight against terrorism should be conducted.

More so, Admiral Mullen himself in an interview to the Pakistani Dawn daily said that U.S. officials are aware of the “long-standing relationship” between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) and the Haqqani network, an aggressive militant group that supports the Afghan Taliban. He said that the group is aiding and training “fighters that are killing Americans” and that Pakistan’s relations with Haqqani are “at the core” of the bilateral difficulties.

These remarks naturally caused anger among the Pakistani military, who vehemently denied that they in any way coddle Haqqani or pursue a policy of “selective repression and appeasement” of militants and accused Mike Mullen of “negative propaganda”.

Thus, instead of narrowing the rift between the two countries, Admiral Mullen’s visited only added to the mutual exasperation. Now, the voices against the drone strikes will sound even louder – especially in view of the fact that the US military is not going to stop them.

On Thursday, US President Barack Obama declared that drone strikes will be used not only in the war against the Taliban, but also in the air operation against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. Well, the Americans have e wide experience and the drones have proved to be a very useful thing when it comes to killing civilians.

So, next stage – Libya? But what if the drone bombs fall indiscriminately and hit the targets in the rebels’ camp? Will it need another Admiral Mullen, or whoever replaces him as the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to try to narrow the gap between the US and its today’s allies?

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Afghanistan: NATO Air Strike Kills Four Road Workers

http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/04/22/isaf-airstrike-kills-road-workers-khost

Pahjwok Afghan News
April 22, 2011

ISAF airstrike kills road workers in Khost

KHOST CITY: Three road workers were killed during an airstrike by foreign troops in the southeastern province of Khost, a private construction company official said on Friday.

A fourth worker was wounded during the overnight air raid by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the Sperai district, Faqir Mohammad Zadran told Pajhwok Afghan News.

The Malak Baba Construction Company head said they were building a road linking the provincial capital with the district.

The victims were providing security for the company’s equipment, he added.

On the other hand, the ISAF media office in the southeastern zone said that four “insurgents” were killed during the strike after they fired at coalition helicopters.

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NATO Air Strike Kills Three Afghan Civilians

http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/20/three-afghan-civilians-die-in-nato-air-strike.html

Agence France-Presse
April 22, 2011

Three Afghan civilians die in Nato air strike

ASADABAD: A child was among three civilians who died in a Nato air strike in eastern Afghanistan which also killed 14 insurgents, local officials said Wednesday.

The attack by the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) happened late Tuesday in the Dangam district of Kunar province, provincial governor Fazlullah Wahidi told AFP.
….
District governor Hamish Gulab said the civilians were two women and a child who died when a missile hit a gathering of insurgents in a house.
….
Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, has seen a string of civilian casualties as foreign forces target insurgents, including the deaths of nine children in another air strike for which the US apologised last month.
….

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U.S. And French Submarine Commanders Meet In Naples

http://www.eucom.mil/english/fullstory.asp?article=US-French-Submarine-Commanders-Meet

U.S. European Command
April 22, 2011

U.S. and French Submarine Commanders Meet
Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Gary Keen, U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs

-“Our navies operated together during Odyssey Dawn and now during Unified Protector and we can’t thank the French navy enough for everything they do.”

NAPLES, Italy: The Commander of the French navy’s Submarine Forces met with Commander Submarine, Allied Naval Forces South during a two-day visit to build on the two navies’ strong military ties, April 21, on Naval Support Activity, Naples.

During the visit, French navy Vice Adm. Georges-Henri Mouton met with Rear Adm. James G. Foggo III, to discuss the two nations’ submarine forces and operations in Europe.

“I came to Naples to meet with Rear. Adm. Foggo and discuss the relationship our navies have in regards to our submarine forces, especially our SSNs [Fast Attack Submarines],” said Mouton. “I wanted to discuss ideas on how we can work together better and talk about the future.”

Even though this was the first time Mouton and Foggo had met in person, they have been working together for some time and were able to speak openly about many issues facing submarine operations in Europe.

“It is important to build strong relationships so you are able to sit down and discuss issues frankly and determine a way ahead,” said Foggo. “That is what we did, determined a way ahead and improved on what is already an extremely fruitful and productive relationship between our submarine forces.”

Foggo continued saying that both navies have been operating together and sharing information for a long time.

“Our navies operated together during Odyssey Dawn and now during Unified Protector and we can’t thank the French navy enough for everything they do,” said Foggo.

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