Hagel Honors Existing POW Bowe Bergdahl on National Day of Recognition
Defense secretary promises continued effort on POW/MIA Recognition Day to free soldier detained by Haqqani Network
By Paul D. Shinkman September 20, 2013
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel honored Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, left, who is presumed to be a captive of the Haqqani Network in Pakistan, an Islamic militant group associated with the Taliban.
Remembering America's prisoners of war took on a flavor of current events on Friday, when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel included in his POW/MIA Day remarks a note about one soldier who remains far behind enemy lines.
Bowe Bergdahl went missing in June 2009 and is believed to be held in Pakistan by the Haqqani Network, an Islamic militant group associated with the Taliban. Hagel cited this missing warrior on Friday as he spoke before a group of veteran POWs and the families of those who remain missing in action.
"We vow never to leave a fellow service member behind," Hagel said, flanked by a field of neatly organized rows of honor guards from all the service branches. "That commitment extends to Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured by enemy forces in Afghanistan more than four years ago."
"Our hearts today are with the Bergdahl family. Using our military, intelligence and diplomatic tools, the United States is continuing its efforts to secure Sgt. Bergdahl's safe release."
Hopes for the Idaho native's release resurfaced earlier this summer, when the Taliban told the Associated Press that it would be willing to release the soldier in exchange .. http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/06/20/us-taliban-talks-could-lead-to-release-of-american-captive .. for the liberation of five detainees at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Those negotiations floundered following highly publicized criticism from the Afghan government.
Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed that a U.S. drone strike killed Mullah Sangeen Zadran, one of the militants suspected of detaining Bergdahl, in the Federally Administered Tribal Area of northern Pakistan earlier in September, according to the Idaho Statesman .. http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/09/06/2746303/terrorist-involved-in-bowe-bergdahl.html .
A State Department spokesman said in June that the U.S. would be open to negotiating with the Taliban for Bergdahl's release.
"Absolutely we will want to talk with the Taliban about the safe return of Sergeant Bergdahl," said spokeswoman Jen Psaki. "He has been gone for too long, and we continue to call for and work toward his safe and immediate release."
More than 83,000 troops remain unaccounted for in America's wars dating back to World War II, according to the Defense Department. Of these, six remain from the war in Iraq and other post-Vietnam conflicts. The Pentagon also tracks attendance at regular updates it holds for family members of those who are missing. That number has grown from roughly 200 in 1996 to just over 1,000 as of this September.
The White House issued a formal declaration declaring Friday National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
"Today, we pay tribute to the service members who have not returned from the battlefield, we stand beside their families, and we honor those who are held captive as prisoners of war," according to the proclamation. "We will never forget their sacrifice, nor will we ever abandon our responsibility to do everything in our power to bring them home."
The distinctive black and white flag symbolizing support for prisoners of war and those mission in action will fly about the White House, the Capitol Building, the departments of State, Defense and Veterans Affairs, as well as other government facilities and war monuments throughout the country.
The U.S. and Israel Aren’t the Only Countries Killing People With Drones
By Siobhán O'Grady September 8, 2015 - 7:29 pm
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s disclosure that his military used a drone to kill two British jihadis in Syria puts the United Kingdom into an exclusive but growing club of nations that acknowledge using unmanned aircraft to target their own citizens.
Although the United States has launched more than 400 drone strikes against militants in Pakistan since 2004, Monday’s announcement marked the first time the Pakistani government has admitted to carrying out a lethal strike with its own drone. The military’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa, described the dead men as “high-profile terrorists” but offered few other details.
Cameron and his top aides say their government decided to launch the attack after gathering intelligence that indicated the two Britons, who had joined the Islamic State in Syria, were a direct threat to the U.K. Speaking to BBC Radio .. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/08/uk-would-not-hesitate-to-carry-out-more-strikes-against-british-jihadis .. on Tuesday, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said the British military would not shy away from carrying out a similar attack in the future. “There are other terrorists involved in other plots that may come to fruition over the next few weeks and months, and we wouldn’t hesitate to take similar action again,” he said.
Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said countries like Pakistan that face ongoing threats from extremists threatening to overrun the central government see drones as “just another tool for them to use in that campaign [against militants].”
“There’s a stigma around drones, but the drones are just a tool of warfare,” he told Foreign Policy.
And they’re a tool of warfare that more and more countries are putting into their arsenals.
According to the New America think tank, 86 countries have .. http://securitydata.newamerica.net/world-drones.html .. drone capabilities, but the vast majority use them only for surveillance purposes. Israel, Pakistan, the U.K., and the United States are the only countries known to have killed enemies with drones, though a long list of other countries are poised to do so. China, Iran, Somalia, South Africa, and Nigeria all have armed drones, but have yet to use them on the battlefield. Russia, India, France, Sweden, Turkey, and a handful of other countries are currently developing armed drones of their own.
Had it gone ahead with the strike, Beijing would likely have faced criticism like that lobbed at Cameron by Amnesty International, which said the August strike amounted to “summary executions from the air” and accused the U.K. of “following the United States down a lawless road of remote-controlled summary killings from the sky.”
Still, Joscelyn said the U.K.’s flow of foreign fighters made the use of drones to target individuals in Syria almost inevitable. Most foreign fighters, he told FP, will get wrapped up in combat on the ground and not pose a serious threat to the country they left.
But others, like the two killed by the British strike “painted targets on their own backs because of what they were doing.” One of them, he said, was using social media to encourage attacks in the U.K. “He’s basically at that point asking for authorities to do something to try and get him,” Joscelyn said.
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