http://news.antiwar.com/2012/06/12/karzai-demands-full-halt-to-us-air-strikes-on-civilian-homes/
Karzai insists that the US agreement with his government, which governs the US occupation through the end of 2024, mandates such a ban. US officials have insisted that they would only restrict the strikes but never ban them.
Pakistan closed the border to Afghanistan in late November, after US warplanes attacked a pair of Pakistani military bases, killing 26 soldiers. The Pakistani parliament has conditioned reopening the border on the US agreeing to halt drone strikes and apologizing for the November attack.
Karzai Demands Full Halt to US Airstrikes on Civilian Homes
US Downplays Significance, Insists Civilian Deaths 'Rare'
by Jason Ditz, June 12, 2012
Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticized a US promise to restrict airstrikes as insufficient, saying that he is demending an immediate and complete ban on all strikes against all civilian homes nationwide.
Karzai insists that the US agreement with his government, which governs the US occupation through the end of 2024, mandates such a ban. US officials have insisted that they would only restrict the strikes but never ban them.
The US “restriction” pledge was vague, saying that they would only launch strikes in the event that other means of attacks on homes were not available. This presumably meant that the US would only bomb houses if they felt they couldn’t launch a ground raid on them.
Karzai insisted that this was a ridiculous move, and that there was no good reason for the US to bomb known civilian homes, even if they were coming under attack from militants that they thought might be in those homes. Last week a NATO airstrike inLogar destroyed several homes in a village, killing 18 civilians.
NATO downplayed the significance of the killings, with Lt. Gen. Curtis Scaparroti saying that the number of civilians bombed is actually comparatively rare if one considers that NATO launches dozens of bombings every single day. The Pentagon data, as reported by the general, was that of the 3,531 airstrikes launched so far this year, only 19 actually hit civilians and that “it’s never intentional.”
and....
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/06/12/us-pakistan-must-bite-the-bullet-on-supply-route-to-ease-tensions/
US: Pakistan Must ‘Bite the Bullet’ on Supply Route to Ease Tensions
Officials Say This Would Be 'Important Step' to Improving US Ties
by Jason Ditz, June 12, 2012
Fresh off of withdrawing negotiators from the country, US officials are now pressing Pakistan to “bite the bullet” and agree to unconditionally allow NATO supplies into Afghanistan, saying that this was the only way to “ease tensions with the United States.”
Pakistan closed the border to Afghanistan in late November, after US warplanes attacked a pair of Pakistani military bases, killing 26 soldiers. The Pakistani parliament has conditioned reopening the border on the US agreeing to halt drone strikes and apologizing for the November attack.
In May the Pakistani cabinet empowered the military to negotiate an agreement with the US on the border issue at some lesser terms, but this too has stalled, with the US flat refusing to apologize for the attacks and has escalating the drone strikes. The fallback alternative, an increase in the fee for border crossings, was also condemned by the US as “price gouging.”
At this point it seemed pretty clear that the US wanted Pakistan to simply knuckle under on the issue and give the US back the route with no strings attached. Having repeatedly insisted that the US is “losing patience” with Pakistan over perceived slights, they are now making the demand more or less formal, insisting that Pakistan must not only take the constant US attacks, but be grateful and thank the US for the privilege.
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