According to the UK legal charity Reprieve, “the first large array of photographs depicting the devastating impact of US unmanned aircraft (‘drone’) attacks on innocent civilians in Pakistan” goes on display today at at Beaconsfield Art Gallery, 22 Newport Street, London. The show, which displays the work of Noor Behram, a 39 year old photographer from the North Waziristan Agency (NWA), runs until August 5. Reportedly, photos from 28 of 60 drone attack sites visited by Behram can be viewed at the London gallery.

This debate appears to still be focusing on whether drones make key Pakistani elites separate themselves from us. There’s not one mention, however, of people like Faisal Shahzad–the Times Square bomber–who blame drones for their turn to terrorism.

The Dawn Media Group in partnership with WikiLeaks has been releasing the “Pakistan Papers,” cables from the trove of more than 250,000 US State Embassy cables that WikiLeaks obtained which specifically deal with Pakistan. Thus far, some of the revelations include the following: Pakistan’s military asked for continued drone coverage, the US has had troops deployed on Pakistan soil, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been financing jihadist groups in Pakistan and the US did not provide Benazir Bhutto with proper security.

I interviewed Raza Rumi, a writer based in Lahore, Pakistan, who regularly writes for the Pakistani weekly The Friday Times, The News and Daily DAWN.

In a blockbuster deal announced just under the trade deadline, America will deal its war in Afghanistan for a war in Pakistan.

US-Pakistani relations really didn’t need this right now. Pakistan arrested–and then released, apparently because the person’s claim to have diplomatic status checked out–an American with high tech gear allegedly snooping around a nuke lab.

With US-Pakistan relations strained over the US mission that killed Osama Bin Laden and the push by many in Congress to accelerate withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in the wake of Bin Laden’s death, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) finds himself at the nexus of these two vital issues. Recall that Kerry was one of a number of US elected officials who visited Pakistan during the Raymond Davis saga, claiming that he felt his visit would achieve Davis’ release “within the next few days” after his visit. Davis was eventually released four weeks after the Kerry trip. Today, we see Kerry featured prominently in the news for his plan to visit Pakistan again in an attempt to repair damage to US-Pakistan relations arising from the Bin Laden mission and for his statements suggesting that a new Afghanistan strategy is now needed.

After the White House’s initial screwups in misrepresenting what happened at the bin Laden compound — basic facts like whether bin Laden was armed or used human shields — you’d think the White House would carefully explain to staff how important it was not to be caught giving conflicting stories again. Nope.

This doesn’t mean Pakistan was informed of any assault; but it means that the reaction was rehearsed and planned years ago.

The Pakistanis give tacit approval to drone strikes, although in recent weeks they have pressed the United States to limit the program. But they’re so upset about the bin Laden raid that … strike that, it’s business as usual. If Pakistan were legitimately angered by infringements on their sovereignty they wouldn’t let drones attack within four days of the raid.

I’ve been told that, after nine years, the reason we must continue to spend billions fighting in Afghanistan is to prevent it from again “becoming a safe haven for terrorists.” Alternaely, I’ve also been told we can’t pull out of Afghanistan because that could destabilize Pakistan and allow it to become a “safe haven for [...]