"In the Face of CIA Drone Strikes, Pakistan is Powerless" -- Are You?

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Buttar has dual citizenship. She spent many years working in the United States in medicine. She has engaged in human rights activism to help poor women in Pakistani prisons. Five years ago she went to Pakistan to become a politician and extend her activism into the government of Pakistan.

She describes herself as being “unique” because she can see “the view” from her Pakistan street and from her US street. She sees from her US street that the “general public doesn’t even know what drones are” or know of the impact.” She knows from her Pakistan street that “someone can push a button and people are killed.” Thousands of innocents lose their lives. Only about 170 terrorists have been killed.

During her presentation at the drone summit, she asked, “What have the Pakistani people done?” She recounted history and how there were really no terror attacks before 1979.

Afghanistan was occupied by Russia. That’s when Charlie Wilson was a senator and that’s when the American government and the Israeli government funded the mujahideen, gave them weapons, gave them technology for this war against Russia. And then, where 600 million refugees came into Pakistan, that’s when the seed of the terror tree was planted.

She said intelligence agencies in America and in Pakistan fueled the creation of Taliban. They fueled the creation of groups that are now being fought.

Now, Pakistani people – 190 million Pakistani people – are victims of [terrorism]. They are the victims of remote control killing. Because, view from my street when I was a little girl in Lahore, it was a very peaceful city. It was a mix of ancient and modern city. And today I am very sorry to say I wanted my girl to go back and see that view, but she will never see that view. She will be tainted this security, guard, gated communities, this sheer fear in Lahore. In last five years, in Lahore alone, which is a city of 8 million people.

In Lahore alone, I think there have been more than 30 terrorist-mediated bombings. And it happens – there is a drone attack and then there is a terrorist-mediated attack. Our markets, our hotels, our restaurants, our schools, our railway stations. Just two weeks ago there was an attack on railway station. We have to think of these victims. We have to think of 190 million whose lives have been made living hell because of this war on terror and these terror attacks and these remote-controlled killings.

Buttar says with great conviction that the onus is on the American people to hold the US government “accountable for wars and intervention in Pakistan.” She says, “We are intervening in sovereign countries’ politics and issues.” And we should not do that — not give covert under-the-table money and instead give civilian aid for schools, hospitals – really focus on education because problems we are facing are really going to be solved by financial independence.”

It is the dependence on military aid from the US and NATO countries and the monopoly of force, which the US has on the region, that really makes Pakistan impotent in the face of American power. This gives the US an unrestrained ability to bully Pakistan into accepting whatever counterterrorism operations the US wants to carry out in Pakistan.