Counterproductive

In a column by WaPo's David Ignatius, he is reporting on meetings by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and General Mullen in Pakistan. In one meeting with young tribal chiefs from the frontier area near Afghanistan, we hear this:

"We are all Taliban," one young man said -- meaning that people in his region support the cause, if not the terrorist tactics. He explained that the insurgency is spreading in Pakistan, not because of proselytizing by leaders such as Baitullah Mehsud but because of popular anger. For every militant killed by a U.S. Predator drone, he says, 10 more will join the insurgent cause.

"You can't come see the people because they hate you," he warned. Listening to them speaking through a translator, you realize that "drone attack" has become a vernacular phrase in Urdu.

It looks like Predator drones do more damage than we might imagine.