World lacks will to call US drone attack on Palestine illegal- Prof. Liaghat Ali Khan

World reticent to call US drone strikes illegal: Liaghat Ali Khan

Press TV has conducted an interview with Liaghat Ali Khan, professor, at Washburn University, about the US drone strikes in Pakistan. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Professor, the International Crisis Group says the US has never officially acknowledged the drone attacks. Why do you think Washington refuses to claim responsibility for the drone strikes?

Khan: Well I think it is not a good policy to accept the civilians are being killed. It is not good internationally and it is not good for domestic consumption.

So the government makes this unbelievable case that they are using drones surgically and they are only killing the killers and the ground reality is that very few killers are being killed and mostly these are Pashtun children, Pashtun women and Pashtun men who have nothing to do with the war on terror.

Press TV: If you can tell us more about the legality of the drone attacks. I mean if they are illegal, why is it that the international community does not do anything about them?

Khan: Well they are illegal for many reasons. Firstly is that even if you think that you are going to kill people who are attacking the United States, you must disclose their identity at least afterwards after you have killed them who were these people that you have killed and what was the case against them?

But it seems like there is no case made against the people who are being killed and everything is shrouded in mystery and the law simply does not tolerate when killings are made in complete secrecy because then we do not know what the facts are, we do not know what crimes the people committed for which they are being executed.

Press TV: But professor, you spoke about the reasons for them being illegal, but I still need an answer as to why the international community does not do anything to prevent this?

Khan: Well I think the reason is very simple. The United States is a powerful country, it has a veto in the Security Council, economically it is hegemon so no country has the guts, maybe perhaps Iran, but no country has the guts to say to the United States that what you are doing is illegal.

So the international community is simply reticent and does not have the will to call an illegal act illegal.

Press TV: What about the Pakistani government? How complicit is that government in this drone policy?

Khan: Well I think I was very surprised that the United Nations reporter in his report said that Pakistani government is not collusive with the United States in drone attacks because I had always believed that United States was using drone attacks with the approval of the Pakistani government.

So I was very surprised when the United Nations reporter said otherwise. I still think that at some level either at the military level and probably at the military level there is some understanding that drone attacks will be used to kill the Taliban and other militants in the tribal areas