Red Youth comrades joined the rally in Bradford on Friday protesting against the use of drones in Pakistan. The rally was addressed by Yvonne Ridley and George Galloway who called for an end to the use of these devastating weapons. A short video of the rally can be seen here: Telegraph and Argus
The US has extended its predatory Afghan war to Pakistan on the pretext that the Afghan resistance is using the Pakistani frontier provinces as a sanctuary and a base from which to launch attacks on US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. By doing this, however, the US has practically obliterated the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan and turned the Afghan war into an AfPak war.
US drones regularly attack places in Pakistan alleged by the US to be Taliban or al-Qaeda hideouts. The use of remote aerial attacks is imperialism’s response, on the one hand, to stubborn resistance to US occupation and aggression, and, on the other hand, to the unpopularity of the wars waged by imperialism among the populations of the warmongering imperialist countries who are demanding that troops should be brought home.
Between 2006-2009, US drone attacks killed 14 mid-level or lower-level alleged al-Qaeda leaders, but resulted in 700 civilian deaths. According to David Kilcullen, former advisor to US General David Petraeus “That’s a hit rate of two percent on 98 percent collateral.” Even Mr Kilcullen was forced to remark “It’s not moral”!
The comrades also took the opportunity to build support for the upcoming meeting on Syria in Bradford. The meeting, entitled No war on Syria! will be held on Tuesday 25 September at 7.30pm in the Khidmat Centre, 36 Spencer Road, Bradford, BD7 2EU.