The government of Pakistan has presented the United States government with a list of demands that includes ending CIA drone strikes in the country immediately. The New York Times reports the government has also called on the Obama administration to apologize for “air strikes in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.” But, based on the track record of indifference the Obama administration has shown toward a country that has been destabilized by the continued use of drones to attack “militants” or alleged Taliban and Al Qaeda targets, it is unlikely the people of Pakistan get any reprieve at all.

Pakistani lawyer Shahzad Akbar, who sued the United States government over family members of civilian victims of US drone attacks, was invited to participate in an upcoming International Drone Summit in Washington, DC, on April 28, but, the peace group CODEPINK reports the US is refusing to grant him a visa. This continues of a pattern since the Bush Administration of denying visas to anyone who might question the legality and consequences of US military policies.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current issues that may be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current topics that may be of interest.

A Pentagon commander announced that the US has special forces teams in Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka and, more significantly, India.

BBC News reports there are teams currently “deployed to help India with their counter-terrorism” operations, according to US Pacific Command Commander Admiral Robert Willard.

Willard says the US and India are working to “contain” a Pakistan-based militant group known as Lashkar-e-Taiba, that is believed to be responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current topics that may be of interest.

A variety of links to articles/interviews/speeches on current topics that may be of interest.

It’s a sad commentary on our media that the President had to answer questions yesterday about drones for the first time, and the questions didn’t come at a White House press briefing or major print interview, but in a virtual YouTube town hall with members of the public. FDL’s Kevin Gosztola covered this at The Dissenter last night, but there’s more to say about the disconnect between the concerns of the media and the concerns of ordinary Americans in that.

A variety of links to articles/interviews on curret topics that may be of interest.

Billed as the “first-ever completely virtual interview from the White House,” YouTube and Google+ hosted an event this evening called “Your Interview with the President.” President Barack Obama took questions from a few individuals who were selected to be a part of a “hangout.” They asked various questions about the economy, education and a few on digital freedom and foreign policy.

Two questions of interest, given Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s interview last night on 60 Minutes, were questions on drone use. A young male asked about drones and how they have caused many civilian casualties.