Jane Mayer of The New Yorker has reported that the number of US drone strikes in Pakistan has gone way up since President Obama took office. During his first nine and a half months in office, Obama authorized as many CIA aerial attacks in Pakistan as President Bush did in his final three years in office. At any time, the CIA now has multiple drones flying over Pakistan, scouting for targets. Mayer writes, “There is no longer any doubt that targeted killing has become official US policy.” David Kilcullen, a former adviser to General Petraeus, says that the propaganda costs of drone attacks on civilians have been disastrously high. He recently wrote, “Every one of these dead non-combatants represents an alienated family, a new revenge feud, and more recruits for a militant movement that has grown exponentially even as drone strikes have increased.”
