Under Obama, drone attacks on the rise in Pakistan

By Phil Stewart and Robert Birsel - Analysis

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Under President Barack Obama, the pace of strikes by pilotless "drone" aircraft on insurgents in Pakistan is rising and could pick up further after a White House review of regional war strategy.

There have been 39 drone strikes in Pakistan since Obama took office not quite nine months ago, according to a Reuters tally of reports from Pakistani security officials, local government officials and residents.

That compares with 33 strikes in the 12 months before Obama was sworn in on January 20.

The air strikes, many using "Hellfire missiles," are credited most notably with killing Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in August, a much-lauded success that has stoked renewed interest in the potential of robotic warfare.

But as the White House reviews high-tech counter-terrorism options in Pakistan and Afghanistan, critics of drone technology question the effectiveness of targeted killings and the usefulness of a campaign fanning anti-American sentiment.

Henry Crumpton, a former senior official at the CIA and the State Department, called the Pakistan strikes "one of the most widely known secrets that the CIA has."

The CIA and the Pentagon refuse to discuss the program, which despite successes remains highly unpopular in Pakistan. The air strikes are seen as a violation of national sovereignty and are blamed for killing scores of civilians there.

"The feeling is that the less that is said and written about drones the better, because it just puts more pressure on Pakistan," said another former U.S. intelligence official, who asked not to be named.

So, even as the United States ramps up training of controllers for the pilotless drones and acquisitions of so-called "unmanned aerial systems," it is doing so quietly, as it relates to Pakistan.

MORE DRONES, MORE STRIKES

Pilotless aircraft are far cheaper than manned fighter jets and can track and target insurgents in places where U.S. troops on the ground cannot. Their missions also pose no risk to U.S. pilots, who can control them remotely from the safety and comfort of offices thousands of miles away.

The technology is attractive for the same reason in Afghanistan, as U.S. commanders look to keep casualties low.

"It's safe to say that DOD's inventory of these aircraft is going to continue to grow, and continue to grow pretty robustly over the next five years," said Dyke Weatherington, a Defense Department deputy director overseeing acquisitions of unmanned aircraft systems.

He was referring to such aircraft generally and cautioned the majority of the more than 2,000 systems deployed in support of combat operations abroad are designed to gather intelligence, not fire missiles.

Among the "combat-ready" drones are about 100 Predator aircraft and some 15 bigger, faster Reapers that are deployed in support of combat operations, Weatherington said.