Obama sends a Candygram to Pakistan...

[MKSheppard]

KABOOM

Missiles fired from suspected US drones killed at least 15 people inside Pakistan today, the first such strikes since Barack Obama became president and a clear sign that the controversial military policy begun by George W Bush has not changed.

Security officials said the strikes, which saw up to five missiles slam into houses in separate villages, killed seven "foreigners" - a term that usually means al-Qaeda - but locals also said that three children lost their lives.

Dozens of similar strikes since August on northwest Pakistan, a hotbed of Taleban and al-Qaeda militancy, have sparked angry government criticism of the US, which is targeting the area with missiles launched from unmanned CIA aircraft controlled from operation rooms inside the US.

The operations were stepped up last year after frustration inside the Bush administration over a perceived failure by Islamabad to stem the flow of Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters from the tribal regions into Afghanistan. Mr Obama has made Afghanistan his top foreign policy priority and said during his presidential campaign that he would consider military action inside Pakistan if the government there was unable or unwilling to take on the militants.

The strikes come just a day after Mr Obama appointed Richard Holbrooke, a former UN ambassador, as a special envoy for the region.

Eight people died when missiles hit a compound near Mir Ali, an al-Qaeda hub in Pakistan's North Waziristan region. Seven more died when hours later two missiles hit a house in Wana, in South Waziristan. Local officials said the target in Wana was a guest house owned by a pro-Taleban tribesman. One said that as well as three children, the tribesman's relatives were killed in the blast.

Pakistan has objected to such attacks, saying they are a violation of its territory that undermines its efforts to tackle militants. Since September, the US is estimated to have carried out about 30 such attacks, killing more than 220 people.

[Medic]

This reminds me of Hitchens' interview with Laura Ingram.* He's a noted supporter of the war himself, through thick and thin, and Ingram chided him heavily for supporting Obama, playing the tried and true "Republicans are stronger on National Defense" card. In Hitchens' words Obama "is evolving towards my position" on Afghanistan and Pakistan. He appears to be vindicated within a Gulf-War-Ground-War's time, to boot! After all, Obama was more vociferous on Afghanistan than McCain was during the presidential campaign, dropping rhetorical bombs which preempted Bush's own authorization of strikes into the lawless border regions, esp. Waziristan. Charles Krauthammer put it better than I could: Obama and the Democrats are now in charge of two wars. "Elections have consequences" is Hannity's motto these days but a wonderful counterpoint is "responsibility has consequences;" consequently, with responsibility now for 2 ongoing wars -- SHOCK AND AMAZEMENT -- Obama is not greatly deviating from Bush-era practices.

I, for one, approve. Hawkish where it counts, sane where it matters most (stem cell research, torture, Guantanamo Bay), and hopefully liberal where it'll pay dividends. It remains to be seen if Obama will go after the 2nd Amendment (I personally don't think he will) but there's no doubt it would be foolish to do so. If the reactions to his decisions so far on this board are any reflection of the nation as a whole, he's making great strides in living up to his word, or at least expectations of change. Going after guns though would needlessly risk what progress he is making with winning over the right, since this ought to win over at least some died-in-the-wool Republicans still convinced of every bit of vile propaganda thrown Obama's way. (anti-American, secret Muslim, not an American citizen -- you know, the Palin vote ) He didn't need them to get elected, true enough, but cementing his lead is a very real possibility; 2012 needn't be the toss-up that 2004 was between Bush / Kerry.

*she was substituting on Bill Orly's show