Les effets de la guerre de McChrystal

Les effets de la guerre de McChrystal

Récemment, dedefensa.org avait signalé les récents développements de la guerre aérienne en Afghanistan avec McChrystal. (Lien : http://www.dedefensa.org/article-en_attendant_l_usaf_05_01_2010.html.) Je signale un autre article, de Noah Shachtman, de Danger Room, le 14 janvier 2010, qui apporte des précisions intéressantes. (Lien : http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/01/afghan-drone-war-spikes-under-mcchrystal/).

C’est vrai que les activités de l’USAF avec avions pilotés en soutien des forces au sol ont fortement décru depuis l’arrivée de McChrystal. En contrepartie, l’activité des drones sans pilotes a très fortement augmenté. Et les “dégâts collatéraux” (civils) du fait des drones, à cause desquels on avait décidé la réduction du soutien aérien piloté, ont très fortement augmenté…

«Since taking over as top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal has dramatically scaled back the traditional air war, cutting in half the number of munitions dropped from the sky. The unmanned air war, however, has escalated under McChrystal’s watch, reports Spencer Ackerman. Since July 2009, there have been 89 drone strikes in Afghanistan, compared to 61 during the same period last year.

»McChrystal cut back on old-school air strikes, to prevent the civilian casualties that can turn into Taliban propaganda victories. A United Nations report released yesterday found that the number of innocent deaths caused by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan had dropped by 28 percent.

»To Ackerman, that means that “McChrystal’s command has found the sweet spot: an increase in aerial lethality that does not result in significant collateral damage.” Drones do carry smaller, less-lethal weaponry than, say, a manned B-1B bomber. And the ability of unmanned aircraft to loiter in the air for hours at a time does give their remote pilots more time to take a second look at a target before pulling the trigger. But I’d advise a little caution before declaring that sweet spot reached.

»The new U.N. report shows that civilian deaths caused by Americans and other “pro-government forces” crept up during the fall — and in some months, were actually higher than bloody 2008’s levels. That’s just when the drone strikes really started to escalate. The latest unmanned attacks came earlier this week, when a pair of drones killed 16 in Helmand province. All of them were militants, allegedly.»

“Le flâneur”