WASHINGTON: Undeterred by Islamabad's shrill protests about breach of its sovereignty by American drone strikes culminating in a parliamentary resolution calling for a halt to such unmanned attacks, the US conducted yet another such operation over the weekend. The attack has virtually torpedoed Pakistan's participation in Nato's 25th summit in President Obama's hometown in Chicago on May 20-21 where far reaching decision are expected on the transition in Afghanistan and beyond.
The weekend drone strike came after a lull of nearly a month from the previous such attack during which time Pakistan upped the ante on the issue with its parliamentary review calling for a halt to such violations of its sovereignty. On Monday, the Pakistani foreign office condemned the latest attack which was said to have killed three or four suspected terrorists operating out of an abandoned girls' school in Miramshah.
"Such attacks are in total contravention of international law and established norms of interstate relations," Pakistan's foreign office said in a statement, terming it a violation of its sovereignty. But the attack killed more than just four militants; it also demolished any pretence of consideration for Pakistan's honor and self-respect which its leaders had put at stake with a very public stand on drone strikes.
In Washington meanwhile, the Obama administration went on the offensive, defending the drone strikes and maintaining that they are ethical, proportional, and in keeping with US efforts to spare innocent civilians from being caught up in the crossfire.
"The constitution empowers the president to protect the nation from any imminent threat of attack," Obama's chief of counterterrorism John Brennan said on Monday without referring specifically to the weekend's strike. "It is hard to imagine a tool that can better minimize the risk to civilians than remotely piloted aircraft."
"There is absolutely nothing casual about the extraordinary care we take in making the decision to pursue an al-Qaida terrorist, and the lengths to which we go to ensure precision and avoid the loss of innocent life," Brennan told a meeting at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
The immediate consequence -- which does not in the least seem to faze Washington -- of the attack is that Pakistan is likely to defer its decision to re-open the US/Nato supply route to landlocked Afghanistan. The addition of drone injury to the insult of not proffering an apology for the Salala bombing in which Nato forces killed 24 Pakistani soldiers also means Islamabadmay be forced to boycott the Nato meeting in Chicago, although Pakistani officials said no decision had been taken in this regard.
The US never made it clear if Islamabad was invited for the summit, but Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was expected to attend the summit, in part as a move to resurrect his own political fortunes after adverse court verdicts linked to domestic politics. The engagement was also expected to build on the recent visit to Pakistan by US special envoy Marc Grossman. Although that trip was deemed a failure over lack of agreement on a public apology over the Salala incident, some progress was expected over the Nato supply route resumption since it is also linked to Coalition Support Funds (CDF) payments which are vital to Pakistan's financial survival.
But the latest drone attack, a virtual slap in the face of the Pakistani parliamentary resolution, establishes the principle that President Obama enunciated in his meeting with Gilani in Seoul in March and which Brennan implicitly referred to: Washington will be mindful of Pakistani sovereignty, but not at the cost of the security of the United States and its allies.
The US has long made the case -- unevenly and sporadically -- that Islamabad cannot protest about violation of its sovereignty when it cannot, or does not or will not, act against terrorist groups that freely operate in Pakistan, in some cases with knowledge and support of its establishment. Washington is also said to have been angered by renewed attacks in Kabul by groups operating out of Pakistan.
The weekend drone strike came after a lull of nearly a month from the previous such attack during which time Pakistan upped the ante on the issue with its parliamentary review calling for a halt to such violations of its sovereignty. On Monday, the Pakistani foreign office condemned the latest attack which was said to have killed three or four suspected terrorists operating out of an abandoned girls' school in Miramshah.
"Such attacks are in total contravention of international law and established norms of interstate relations," Pakistan's foreign office said in a statement, terming it a violation of its sovereignty. But the attack killed more than just four militants; it also demolished any pretence of consideration for Pakistan's honor and self-respect which its leaders had put at stake with a very public stand on drone strikes.
In Washington meanwhile, the Obama administration went on the offensive, defending the drone strikes and maintaining that they are ethical, proportional, and in keeping with US efforts to spare innocent civilians from being caught up in the crossfire.
"The constitution empowers the president to protect the nation from any imminent threat of attack," Obama's chief of counterterrorism John Brennan said on Monday without referring specifically to the weekend's strike. "It is hard to imagine a tool that can better minimize the risk to civilians than remotely piloted aircraft."
"There is absolutely nothing casual about the extraordinary care we take in making the decision to pursue an al-Qaida terrorist, and the lengths to which we go to ensure precision and avoid the loss of innocent life," Brennan told a meeting at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
The immediate consequence -- which does not in the least seem to faze Washington -- of the attack is that Pakistan is likely to defer its decision to re-open the US/Nato supply route to landlocked Afghanistan. The addition of drone injury to the insult of not proffering an apology for the Salala bombing in which Nato forces killed 24 Pakistani soldiers also means Islamabadmay be forced to boycott the Nato meeting in Chicago, although Pakistani officials said no decision had been taken in this regard.
The US never made it clear if Islamabad was invited for the summit, but Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani was expected to attend the summit, in part as a move to resurrect his own political fortunes after adverse court verdicts linked to domestic politics. The engagement was also expected to build on the recent visit to Pakistan by US special envoy Marc Grossman. Although that trip was deemed a failure over lack of agreement on a public apology over the Salala incident, some progress was expected over the Nato supply route resumption since it is also linked to Coalition Support Funds (CDF) payments which are vital to Pakistan's financial survival.
But the latest drone attack, a virtual slap in the face of the Pakistani parliamentary resolution, establishes the principle that President Obama enunciated in his meeting with Gilani in Seoul in March and which Brennan implicitly referred to: Washington will be mindful of Pakistani sovereignty, but not at the cost of the security of the United States and its allies.
The US has long made the case -- unevenly and sporadically -- that Islamabad cannot protest about violation of its sovereignty when it cannot, or does not or will not, act against terrorist groups that freely operate in Pakistan, in some cases with knowledge and support of its establishment. Washington is also said to have been angered by renewed attacks in Kabul by groups operating out of Pakistan.