Friendly drones

This refers to the news report, ‘US drones kills own citizen, Italian national’ (April 24). President Obama offered condolences and apologies over the deaths of two aid workers as a result of a misfired drone strike in Pakistan. The Obama administration, in a break from its usual practice, felt it necessary to acknowledge the deaths while taking full responsibility.
But the official statement stopped there. It did not acknowledge – not even mention – thousands of Pakistani civilians killed in such killer strikes. The US administration, military and intelligence officials often do not know who they are killing. They mostly rely on their guess, which is imperfect at best. The Obama administration is conducting two reviews of the drone strike to determine ‘what went wrong’. This review should extend to examining the targeted killing programme, its results and its imperfections. Many Pakistani civilians have lost their lives in so-called signature strikes. The bloodshed in Fata has wounded many families. Now the US government should initiate a full and fair investigation and admit to the deaths of many Pakistani civilians. This will be the first step towards acknowledging the misery of devastated families.
Nabeela Khalid Pervez
Lahore