US Winds Down Drone Strike Program In Pakistan
WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA's targeted killing program in Pakistan, once the mainstay of President Barack Obama's counterterrorism effort, is winding down.
Because of stricter rules, diplomatic sensitivities and the changing nature of the al-Qaida threat, there hasn't been a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan's tribal areas since Christmas. And American officials say opportunities for drone attacks will dwindle further as the CIA and the military draw down in neighboring Afghanistan, reducing their intelligence-gathering footprint.
"The program (in Pakistan) appears to have ended," said Peter Bergen, who has closely studied drone strikes for the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank.
U.S. officials won't go that far, but Obama announced this week a plan to pull nearly all American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2016. The targeted killing program in Pakistan relies on drones flown from, and intelligence gathered in, U.S. bases in Afghanistan that would then be closed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/29/cia-drone-strikes-pakistan_n_5413014.html