Striking Back at the US

Relatives of Pakistani Drone Victims to Sue CIA

{dpa} A Jan. 5 demonstration in Peshawar against US drone attacks: A group of victims' relatives is suing the US government and the CIA.

01/21/2011 - Almost every day, people in the Pakistani region of Waziristan are killed or seriously injured by drone attacks carried out by the CIA. Now a group of victims' relatives is standing up to Washington -- by suing the US government.

An eye and both legs: That was the price that 17-year-old Sadaullah Wazir paid for living in a part of the world that is deemed a "terrorist haven" and that has been a target for US drones over the past few years. Since Barack Obama became US president, these attacks have become increasingly frequent. The Pakistani newspapers now report daily on those killed and injured in the tribal areas in the west of the country.

"War is hell," the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman said more than a century ago. And Sadaullah Wazir certainly ended up in hell, despite never having sought out a war, nor having fought in a single battle. The war came to him on Sept. 7, 2009, as he was sitting in front of his family home in the village of Machikhel, in northern Waziristan.

On that day, a drone flew over the village. Wazir was used to the sound; he had spotted the aircraft every few days in the sky. It was an evening during the fasting month of Ramadan, and most of the members of his family had gathered inside the house for prayers. After the prayers, they were to break the fast together.

Wazir was enjoying the last rays of sunshine and stayed outside. Suddenly there was a whoosh and a drone fired a rocket that hit Wazir's house. {continued}