US Airstrikes Signal Tough Approach in Pakistan

Two US strikes reportedly kill 18 today

(NEWSER) - A Reuters report that two US drone strikes killed 18 people in Pakistan today could become a common refrain: The CIA has significantly increased its drone attacks in the country over the last month, thanks to a secret diversion of weapons from the US military in Afghanistan, according to the Wall Street Journal . The move comes as tensions with Pakistan are at a dangerous high. More»

Security firm helped load killer drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan

(NEWSER) - The Central Intelligence Agency has severed ties with private security firm Blackwater, whose employees helped load the drone aircraft tasked with killing targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. CIA chief Leon Panetta killed the contract, a rep tells the New York Times , which was instrumental in revealing the firm’s ties to one of the agency’s most covert operations. More»

(NEWSER) - When President Obama unveils his strategy for Afghanistan tomorrow, he will for the first time ask Iran to help bring peace to the region, Marc Ambinder writes for the Atlantic. Obama may not mention Iran by name, but he will ask neighboring nations to form a group to mediate disputes and lay out long-term goals. “It will be clear, in any event, that Iran ought to be included in the group,” writes Ambinder. More»

(NEWSER) - An airstrike in Pakistan’s troubled South Waziristan region, likely orchestrated by the US, has killed about 30 people, the Los Angeles Times reports. The dead are thought to be al-Qaeda or Taliban militants; the attack destroyed the compound of an associate of the Taliban leader suspected in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. It's the deadliest such strike since President Obama took office. More»

(NEWSER) - Dianne Feinstein said today that Predator drones used to carry out attacks in Pakistan originate there, not in Afghanistan as had been widely assumed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The revelation, which is likely to cause trouble for the Pakistani government, came during testimony by spy chief Dennis Blair. A rep for Feinstein said the information came from a news report, not from the classified information the senator is privy to as chair of the Intelligence Committee. More»