Imagine that in this alternate universe, a foreignmilitary power begins flying remote-controlled warplanes over your town, usingon-board missiles to kill hundreds of your innocent neighbors.
Now imagine that when you read the newspaper aboutthis ongoing bloodbath, you learn that the foreign nation's top general isnonchalantly telling reporters that his troops are also killing "anamazing number" of your cultural brethren in an adjacent country. Imaginefurther learning that this foreign power is expanding the drone attacks on yourcommunity despite the attacks' well-known record of killing innocents. Andfinally, imagine that when you turn on your television, you see the perpetratornation's tuxedo-clad leader cracking stand-up comedy jokes about dronestrikesjokes that prompt guffaws from an audience of that nation's elite.
Ask yourself: How would you and your fellow citizensrespond? Would you call homegrown militias mounting a defense"patriots" or would you call them "terrorists"? Would youagree with your leaders when they angrily tell reporters that violent defianceshould be expected?
Fortunately, most Americans don't have to worryabout these queries in their own lives. But how we answer them in ahypothetical thought experiment provides us insight into how Pakistanis arelikely feeling right now. Why? Because thanks to our continued drone assaultson their country, Pakistanis now confront these issues every day. And if theyanswer these questions as many of us undoubtedly would in a similar situation-- well, that should trouble every American in this age of asymmetricalwarfare.
Though we don't like to call it mass murder, the U.S. government's undeclared drone war in Pakistan isdevolving into just that. As noted by a former counterinsurgency adviser toGen. David Petraeus and a former Army officer in Afghanistan, the operation hasbecome a haphazard massacre.
"Press reports suggest that over the last threeyears drone strikes have killed about 14 terrorist leaders," DavidKilcullen and Andrew Exum wrote in 2009. "But, according to Pakistanisources, they have also killed some 700 civilians. This is 50 civilians forevery militant killed."
Making matters worse, Gen. Stanley McChrystal has,indeed, told journalists that in Afghanistan,U.S.troops have "shot an amazing number of people" and "none hasproven to have been a real threat." Meanwhile, President Obama used hisinternationally televised speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner tojest about drone warfareand the assembled Washington glitterati did, in fact,reward him with approving laughs.
By eerie coincidence, that latter display ofmonstrous insouciance occurred on the same night as the failed effort to raze Times Square. Though America reacted to that despicableterrorism attempt with its routine spasms of cartoonish shock (why do they hateus?!), the assailant's motive was anything but baffling. As law enforcementofficials soon reported, the accused bomber was probably trained and inspiredby Pakistani groups seeking revenge for U.S. drone strikes.
"This is a blowback," said Pakistan'sforeign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi. "This is a reaction. And you couldexpect that ... let's not be naive."
Obviously, regardless of rationale, a"reaction" that involves trying to incinerate civilians in Manhattan is abhorrentand unacceptable. But so is Obama's move to intensify drone assaults that weknow are regularly incinerating innocent civilians in Pakistan. Andwhile Qureshi's statement about "expecting" blowback seems radical,he's merely echoing the CIA's reminder that "possibilities ofblowback" arise when we conduct martial operations abroad.
We might remember that somehow-forgotten warningcome the next terrorist assault. No matter how surprised we may feel after thatinevitable (and inevitably deplorable) attack, the fact remains that until wehalt our own indiscriminately violent actions, we ought to expect equally indiscriminateand equally violent reactions.
David Sirotais the author of the best-selling books "Hostile Takeover" and"The Uprising." He hosts the morning show on AM760 in Colorado and blogs atOpenLeft.com. E-mail him at ds@davidsirota.comor follow him on Twitter @davidsirota.
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