Civilians flee major air strike in Pakistan

"On the road outside Kacha Garhi camp, eight-year-old Zafarullah and his little brother are among a number of children begging for coins and scraps. ‘I want to go back to my village and school,’ he said.”

As many as one million people like Zafarullah and his brother have fled their homes in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan to escape the danger from unmanned American drones and other bombings. This number can only be expected to increase as the Obama administration expands bombing in Pakistan. Just this last Saturday near the Afghan border, two American missiles killed 13 people, including women and children. Write your representative and senators today and urge them to oppose air strikes that harm civilians.
 
While the US media is largely ignoring the human impact of these bombings, Pakistani officials have declared a “massive humanitarian emergency.” Thousands of refugees are homeless in their own country. Two weeks ago, two refugees were killed and six injured during protests over shortages of food, water and tents. Contributing to this kind of humanitarian catastrophe is not going to bring stability to Afghanistan and Pakistan or defeat terrorists.

President Obama has said his number one goal is to reduce the threat to terrorism and bring stability to a volatile region. Killing civilians, driving people from their homes and depriving them of food is going to create greater resentment of the United States and increase the likelihood that the local population will turn against us. Congress can put pressure on the administration to fully fund the humanitarian program President Obama supports, and stop the dangerous bombings that are undermining his other laudable goals. But they won’t do it unless they hear from you. Take action today.

The media filter is keeping these human stories from reaching the American public and our representatives in the government. Thank you for stepping up and giving these refugees a voice.

UPDATE: Obama administration planning more drone attacks over a wider area in Pakistan.