Democracy Now program - series of programs on Afghanistan/Pakistan

I watch Democracy Now on the internet. Hosted by award-winning Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, and others, the hour-long program airs 5 days a week. You can tune into the program through the internet any time during the day or subsequent days. All of the programs are archived. The programs are transcribed, so you can also read and download the text of the headlines or interviews when it's convenient. The show starts with ten-minutes or so of headlines, which are followed by 1 to 4 featured interviews.

http://www.democracynow.org/

I refer to DN because it has a special section listing a few dozen interviews relevant to the US war in Afghanistan and attacks on Pakistan. You can find this list at:

http://democracynow.org/features/obamas_war

On October 28, 2009, Amy Goodman gave background information for an interview with Philip Alston, UN special rapporteur. Amy's information follows below. Two points stand out, namely, that the U.S. has been bombing parts of Pakistan where Taliban forces are supposed to be located with unmanned Predator drones and the number of such attacks has increased under Obama. You may be familiar with the first point, but perhaps not the second. Philip Alston thinks the the use of these weapons may be a violation of international law. Note that this is but one example of how US forces in Afghanistan are acting, directly or indirectly, outside of legal or moral grounds.
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AMY GOODMAN: In Pakistan, at least eighty people have been killed, scores hurt, by a large car bomb in a crowded market in Peshawar. Similar attacks have killed more than 200 people in recent weeks, as the Pakistani army carries out an operation against Taliban militants in South Waziristan.

The blast came as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Clinton told a news conference the US was standing “shoulder to shoulder” with Pakistan in its military offensive. And one of the most high-profile ways the US is doing that is the increased use of unmanned Predator drones.

Investigative reporter Jane Mayer of The New Yorker magazine revealed last week the number of US drone strikes in Pakistan has risen dramatically under President Obama. During his first nine-and-a-half months in office, Obama authorized at least forty-one CIA missile strikes in Pakistan, a rate of approximately one bombing a week. That’s as many drone attacks as President Bush sanctioned in his final three years in office. The attacks have killed between 326 and 538 people, that’s according to Jane Mayer. She writes, quote, “there is no longer any doubt that targeted killing has become official US policy.”

One of the most high-profile critics of the US drone program has been the United Nations human rights envoy, Philip Alston. On Tuesday, he said the US government’s use of Predator drones may violate international law. Alston is the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions. He raised the issue in a report to the UN General Assembly’s Human Rights Committee Tuesday and said the US should explain the legal basis for using unmanned drones for targeted killings. Alston also presented a critical report on the drone program in June to the UN Human Rights Council, but, he says, US representatives ignored his concerns.

You can find the entire interview at:

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/28/un_special_rapporteur_on_extrajudicial_killings