CIA asks to expand targets in Yemen drone strikes

According to an article here, the CIA is requesting authority to expand its covert drone mission n Yemen. The CIA wants to launch attacks even though it does not know who the targets are.

These "signature strikes" would target people solely on intelligence that indicates patterns of suspicious behavior..For example images of militants gathering at known al-Qaida compounds or performing certain actions such as unloading explosives. This extension will no doubt lead to many more mistakes and civilian deaths.

Even the existing strikes often cause collateral damage. Sometimes the targets and those killed are not militants at all but at the most the families of suspected militants. The first horrendous attack of the Obama regime on a remote village killed mostly women and children. See this article.

These signature strikes have been used in Pakistan for some time. Director David Petraeus now wants to use this type of strike in Yemen.

Obama is already increasing the rate of strikes in Yemen. There have been at least 8 strikes this year already. Often the Yemen government denies U.S. involvement in strikes. There are also U.S. Special Forces operating in Yemen but nothing is said about them unless they happen to come under attack as has happened. Obama ruled out signature attacks more than a year ago. However, it would seem that the CIA has on occasion not followed the more restrictive rules in any case.

The U.S. is in danger of being to drawn in to a conflict that is often simply directed at the government so that hostilities may be as much a civil war as Al Qaeda gaining influence. The U.S. and the Yemeni government routinely identify any significant Islamic militant group as Al Qaeda related or even a branch of Al Qaeda. For more see this article.

ACLU seeks information on horrendous U.S. missile attack in Yemen in 2009

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) together with the Center for Constitutional Rights have filed a request for information about a U.S. missile attack that killed dozens of civilians in the remote village of al-Majalah in the province of Abyan. The request is under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The attack happened back on Dec. 17th 2009 the first known missile strike in Yemen carried out by the Obama administration. There were one or more cruise missiles that were launched from a U.S. warship or submarine. There were reports that cluster bombs were used as well..

Forty one people were killed in the remote mountain village in Abyan province. The targets were purportedly militants according to the government which also claimed full responsibility for the attack. However among the dead were 21 children and 14 women.

I have included a tape of almost half an hour on the U.S involvement in Yemen. There is an interview with people from the village attack beginning around 10 minutes into the video. For more see this article.

It is highly unlikely that any information will be released or that the U.S. will even admit to the attack. The Saleh government often claimed that they mounted attacks that were in effect by the U.S. Indeed Saleh authorities joke about this in memos released by Wikileaks as the video appended points out. The release of this information will be said to be against national security interests..

U.S. drone attack surge in Yemen

The U.S. is revving up its drone war against militants in Yemen with the support of the new government there. The U.S. has ordered dozens of drone attacks. The U.S. is particularly interested in attacking bases of AQAP (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula).

Back in Sept. last year drone attacks killed the U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaki who was a propagandist for Al Qaeda. Later his son and nephew were also killed in drone attacks.

Since last May 26 attacks have been recorded..There have been nine attacks in 2012 already five in March. Thirty militants were allegedly killed in 3 attacks on the city of Zinjibar held by a militant group. The number of attacks this year are comparable to the ten that have taken place in Pakistan.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism in the UK has estimated that as many as 516 have been killed in drone attacks. Over a hundred were civilians.

The attacks are mounted mostly from a base in Djibouti by the CIA or U.S. special forces command. However no details are ever confirmed about the missions. Amnesty International among other groups has called on the U.S. to take responsibility for its covert actions and to investigate evidence of multiple civilian deaths. For more see this article.

Yemen: Orderly transition to old guard rule. U.S. approved

The reason the Yemen presidential election is held up as a model is that it involves a transition that the U.S. and neighbouring Arab states regard as in their interests. The fact that this is a deal imposed from the outside by the GCC with the approval of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is neither here nor there.

The fact that former president Saleh gets to go scot free of any liability for his killing of protesters is not to be mentioned. That his vice president is sole candidate for president does not matter. Nor does it matter that Saleh's relatives still have important roles in the government. In fact some of his relatives run the security forces.

As many protesters thought from the beginning those from the military who joined them were fair weather friends. Now they can participate with the old guard in sharing power they are joining in supporting the vice-president.

The U.S. backs the Saleh approved sole candidate Mansour Hadi a major general. Basically the entire Saleh regime remains in place. Meanwhile Saleh is in the U.S. for medical treatment. Don''t expect the U.S. to hold him responsible for his crimes. Saleh was a good guy helping out in the war on terror as will Hadi.

No doubt many protesters will boycott the elections as wiill Houthi rebels in the north and separatists in the south. One can expect continuing repression of anyone who disagrees with this new model transition to rule by the old guard in Yemen. For more see this article.