Some 20 years ago actor Bill Murray was cast in a motion picture called "Groundhog Day", where Murray had "de-ja-vu" i.e., reliving February 2, the day "Punxsutawney Phil", the groundhog of renown, appears to see his shadow (or not).
Yesterday, though not exactly de-ja vu, the CIA, in what should be considered a redundant performance, sent a drone strike into Pakistan's North Waziristan's tribal region reportedly killing Waliur Rehman, supposedly the Pakistani Taliban's second in command.
The New York Times depicted the strike as "a potentially serious blow to the insurgency." The Baltimore Sun referred to it as "partial payback" against Rehman who allegedly sent a suicide bomber into an American base in eastern Afghanistan three years ago which killed seven U.S. intelligence officers and contractors.
According to reports, the CIA has conducted some 360 drone strikes into Pakistan since 2004, presumably killing other Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leaders (along with a thousands of innocents also killed in these strikes).
The question is: to what effect have these drone strikes had on the insurgency in the undeclared war in Pakistan as well as the war in Afghanistan?
The resistance to America's war and occupation in Afghanistan has not diminished in the U.S. longest war. Scores of innocents have been killed in middle of the night drone raids which create new militants among the survivors who vow revenge against us.
Thousands of Pakistani's have demonstrated against these deadly American drones killing innocents in their country creating legitimate deep seated hatred toward America.
Is there somehow a belief in the minds of our policy makers that killing suspected insurgent leaders in CIA or military drone strikes will cripple the resistance and reduce their capacity to resist and conduct suicide or IED attacks against us?
If anything, these drone strikes steel the resolve of the resistance against us as well as add to their numbers.
Kill a leader and another takes his place. Drone strikes killing leaders, even the killing of Osama bin Laden hasn't decimated the numbers of those capable of replacing dead leaders.
So the CIA conducting these redundant drone strikes killing a suspected insurgent leader or two does nothing to diminish the resistance against us except to increase the "blowback" of attacks used against us.
With regard to President Obama's speech last week where he announced new restrictions on drone strikes, yesterday's CIA strike should put to rest any truth in his words.
"Cowboy" George W. Bush along with Dick "Darth Vader" Cheney may be gone from the scene but "eloquent" Barack Obama hasn't changed their policies and actions. If anything he has increased them.
That Obama's supporters continue to deny these obvious "truths" about him reveals their hypocrisy and makes them no better than knee jerk Republicans who always supported a Republican president and never challenged his policies and actions.
