U.S. assembling secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

The Obama administration is assembling a constellation of secret drone bases for counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of a newly aggressive campaign to attack al-Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, U.S. officials said.

One of the installations is being established in Ethi­o­pia, a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Shabab, the Somali militant group that controls much of that country. Another base is in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, where a small fleet of “hunter-killer” drones resumed operations this month after an experimental mission demonstrated that the unmanned aircraft could effectively patrol Somalia from there.

The U.S. military also has flown drones over Somalia and Yemen from bases in Djibouti, a tiny African nation at the junction of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In addition, the CIA is building a secret airstrip in the Arabian Peninsula so it can deploy armed drones over Yemen.

The rapid expansion of the undeclared drone wars is a reflection of the growing alarm with which U.S. officials view the activities of al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, even as al-Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan has been weakened by U.S. counterterrorism operations.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-building-secret-drone-bases-in-africa-arabian-peninsula-officials-say/2011/09/20/gIQAJ8rOjK_singlePage.html

[boppers]

1. So "secret" it's in the Washington Post.

:eyes:

[bemildred]

14. Indeed, one wonders why these "officials" are not being hunted down and prosecuted. nt

[Angry Dragon]

2. Drones---- the only thing that this country exports

and fear and terror

[The Northerner]

3. Who would unrec this? n/t

[the other one]

4. Kicked because I think it's important

[xchrom]

5. How much is this fucking costing? Nt

[Nuclear Unicorn]

12. That depends

It'll probably run you several thousand retirees on the open market but if we use post-HCR-mandated-monopoly currency I can probably let you have them for just a handful of cancer patients.

Sorry, we no longer accept inner-city youth as payment for services rendered but we have this nice "Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd" street sign as a consolation gift.

[dgibby]

13. With or without that heaping side order of

the gianormous prison we're building in Afghanistan?

[Mimosa]

6. WARS R U.S. ( always enough money for killing people, taking stuff, right? ) n/t

[Supersedeas]

9. oh, to live in a world of international finance and international defense

what deficit
what debt
what recession

what...defense contractors have plenty of people yet to kill...believe me, they are planning on it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. kicking for visibility.

and to say " I told ya so"......we are moving fast to secure Africa and the Middle East to protect "resources".
Anyone interested should read The Grand Chessboard by Brzezinski.

[newfie11]

8. nothing surprises me about this countrys love for war

and blowing up/bullying other countries.

[Javaman]

10. big wheel keeps on turning. nt

[SHRED]

11. The MIC beast is always hungry

General Atomics

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=14200+Kirkham+Way,+Poway,+CA+92064&hl=en&ll=32.934469,-117.026839&spn=0.007177,0.013937&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.79724,114.169922&vpsrc=0&t=h&z=17


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