However, that is something that “would have been unthinkable in previous times”. “After more than 30 airstrikes on civilian homes in Afghanistan this year, President Hamid Karzai has demanded that such attacks end, but the practice continues in areas of Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen that are not in any war zone,” writes Carter. He adds that it is unknown “how many hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed” in attacks that have all been “approved by the highest authorities in Washington.” “Top intelligence and military officials, as well as rights defenders in targeted areas, affirm that the great escalation in drone attacks has turned aggrieved families toward terrorist organizations, aroused civilian populations against us and permitted repressive governments to cite such actions to justify their own despotic behavior,” writes Carter. Carter’s critical article comes less than a week after the UN’s report on the use of drone strikes by the US to combat terrorism.
Katika hatua nyengine Dk Shein alisema kwa sababu hiyo anaagiza kutokufanyika kwa maandamano ya aina yoyote kuhusiana na suala hilo na kuwataka wazanzibari kutoshiriki hadi pale wanaotaka kufanya hivyo wanaporuhusiwa kuandamana na jeshi la polisi kwa kufuata taratibu za kisheria. “Naagiza maandamano yasifanyike,… wakiruhusiwa kufanya basi msiende kushiriki,” alisisitiza Dk Dk Shein alikuwa akizungumza na zaidi ya watu 500, waliohudhuria katika mkutano huo, ambao ni wastaafu wa taasisi za Muungano waliopo Zanzibar. Katika waliohudhuria katika mkutano huo ni taasisi mbali mbali pamoja na Bunge, Ulinzi na Uslama, Mambo ya Nje, Mamlaka ya hali ya hewa (TMA), Mamlaka ya Kodi na mapato (TRA), Mamlaka ya Usafiri wa Anga (TCAA), Idara ya Uhamiaji, Shirika la Posta na Simu, na taasisi za masuala ya elimu na ufundi.