From a comrade who wishes to remain anonymous: "I found the assassination of the Taliban leader to be a particular troubling though perfectly predictable development. Ostensibly, it was not carried out because the Taliban are a threat to the US, but because he was opposed to the peace process as it exists. Specifically, the Taliban are opposed to continued presence of the US in Afghanistan. So in effect the US is shaping peace negotiations through drone assassinations. Fair enough, and standard super power politics. But this is what drone assassinations are evolving into: an instrument shaping policy rather than the other way round. "