The year of the drone misinformation |
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Authors: | Farhat Taj |
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Affiliation: | 1. Centre for Gender Research, University of Oslo, Norway and Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy , AIRRA, Islamabad, Pakistan bergen34@yahoo.com |
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Abstract: | This paper challenges the widely held view in the research communities around the world that US drone strikes on the Pakistan's north-western border area with Afghanistan lead to large-scale civilian casualties and are unpopular in that tribal area. As an example of that view the author analyses a recent research report, ‘The Year of the Drone’, produced by the New American Foundation, and argues that sources of the report are questionable and doubtful. The author, who is a native of the border area with Afghanistan and has lived almost all of her lifetime in the area, informs that the drone attacks are popular in the region and the reports about large-scale civilian casualties are baseless. She provides some evidence in support of her argument and cautions the researchers against the uncritical acceptance of the notions, like the drone attacks are unpopular or have killed civilians. |
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Keywords: | drone attacks Waziristan civilian casualties Taliban tribal realism Pakistan Peshawar Declaration |
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