Not long after it became clear that would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad made his attempt upon American lives after having watched U.S.-sent drones kill members of the Taliban in Pakistan, news reports analyzed the so-called “mixed response” that the drone attacks received. The government says they are precise and effective, but Pakistani sources claimed they are indiscriminate and are used as a propaganda and recruitment tool for the Pakistan. Shahzad himself reportedly griped, “They shouldn’t be shooting people from the sky … They should come down and fight.” But the criticism seems not to have daunted the CIA, which today sent pilotless drone aircraft to fire more than fifteen missiles at Taliban targets in the “lawless” northern Waziristan zone of Pakistan. According to the Financial Times, at least 24 suspected militants were felled. A Pakistani intelligence official called the attacks “Washington’s payback.”
