“The President’s counter terrorism campaign is about stealth power, rather than hard power or soft power. He is a Jekyll and Hyde president; he is the king of covert because there are not many military options available now.”-Laura Blumenfeld, German Marshall Fund
On March 25, 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama was labeled “Jekyll and Hyde”, at the annual Brussels Forum. Analyst say Obama has increased the use of terror drones in order to save money!
Pakistan’s President says Parliamentary demands that the U.S. stop using terror drones against Pakistan, is a sign of democracy.
On March 25, President Asif Ali Zardari met with Marc Grossman, Special U.S. Representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Zandari said the U.S. had to respect the demands of the Pakistani members of parliament.
Zandari also brought up drug trafficking, which has increased ever since the United States started the so called War on Terror.
Earlier in the week, U.S. Senator Joe Libierman and Senator Dianne Feinstein refused demands from Afghan leaders, who’re calling for a stop to terror drone strikes in their country.
“Drone strikes are critically important to America’s national security. So obviously, I do not believe they should stop.”-Joe Libierman, Senator for Connecticut
“I think the key is whether Pakistan will go into North Waziristan and other places and take out those terrorist leaders who are essentially fueling and leading attacks against our troops in Afghanistan.”-Dianne Feinstein, Senator for California
In the Philippines the government there is denying that the U.S. is using terror drones to help the Philippine government fight mujahideen in the southern islands: “They are here as advisers. They are here as trainers. They can not participate in combat operations.”-Benigno Aquino, President of Philippines
The United States began sending troops back to the Philippines ever since the beginning of the War on Terror. In the past two years U.S. troop numbers have increased, and could actually be due to the growing tensions over the oil rich South China Sea (especially in an area called Reed Bank).
While the Philippines says no terror drones are being used there, they admit helping the United States, and the Malaysian government launch air strikes against mujahideen in Malaysia.