A History of U.S. Drone Strikes on Pakistan and Its Implications

Abstract

Although the history of U.S. drone strikes on Pakistan is not so long, which was began since 2004 and is still continue but it have complicated narrative. Strikes by drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are the key tools used by the U.S. in “War on Terror” to combat with Al Qaida and Taliban particularly in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Though the history and narrative of drone strikes in Pakistan has been examined by various scholars and historians but numerous questions are still obscure. In particular, what is the U.S. drone policy towards drone strikes under the umbrella of counterterrorism? Which was the U.S. drone strikes legality towards Pakistan? What were the drone strikes implications on Pakistan from 2004 to present date? Answering these questions, not only will the history of drone and beginning of strikes be examined in this study but also intends to analyze the narrative of drone strikes in Pakistan. The study has been distributed into three parts. In first part of study, we will focus on drone technology and historical overview of drone strikes. Second part will be discussed on U.S. policies towards drone strikes and it’s implicit for international law, especially in the realm of law of global human rights; Legitimacy of United States drone attacks in Pakistan and Pak-U.S. internal narrative on drone strikes. About the drone strikes effects (from 2004 to present) on Pakistan (i.e. drone strikes and terrorists, revenge by militants, its economical, psychological, social and political effects on Pakistan) will be discussed in third part of study.

Keywords: Drone strikes, Terrorists, U.S. Drone Policies, Human Rights, Implications on Pakistan