In the three days since the United States resumed drone strikes in Pakistan after a two-month hiatus, it's carried out two attacks, killing  10 people and indicating the tactic of targeting terrorists with drones is fully back in favor with U.S. commanders. The second strike in as many days killed six militants traveling in two cars in North Waziristan, Reuters reports, following the news from Tuesday that a strike killed four. The U.S. tightened its policy about drone strikes after wayward missiles accidentally killed Pakistani soldiers in November, and it hasn't carried out a strike since Nov. 17, the Associated Press reported via the Washington Post. Back in early November, an intelligence source told the Wall Street Journal, "The bar has been raised. Inside CIA, there is a recognition you need to be damn sure it's worth it" to carry out a strike. The military and C.I.A. don't comment on these drone strikes, so we can't know for sure why they've decided to start them up again, but it is worth noting that Pakistan's military and its civilian government have been feuding (President Asif Ali Zardari is in Dubai following his sudden firing of Defense Minister Yusuf Raza). Perhaps U.S. forces see the powers that be in Pakistan as a little distracted right now.

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Adam Martin