Here We Go Again: Obama’s War in Yemen

[G_j]

http://firedoglake.com/2010/08/25/here-we-go-again-obamas-war-in-yemen/


Here We Go Again: Obama’s War in Yemen
By: Siun Wednesday August 25, 2010 1:30 am


As we’ve previously mentioned in December, January and this month, Yemen is one of the “roughly a dozen countries” besides Iraq and Afghanistan where Obama’s administration is waging war.

And as is the norm in these secret, undeclared wars, we are working hand in hand with unsavoury governments whose own agendas of repression are ignored under the guise of the “war on terror.”

Yesterday, in two reports, Amnesty International raised significant questions about the legality of US operations in Yemen:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/yemen-abandons-human-rights-name-countering-terrorism-2010-08-24

“The USA appears to have carried out or collaborated in unlawful killings in Yemen and has closely cooperated with Yemeni security forces in situations that have failed to give due regard for human rights,” Amnesty said in a report…

“The U.S. government has deployed drones in Yemen to kill those it describes as ‘high value targets’, a practice that has been increasingly criticized as involving unlawful killings,” Amnesty said, without mentioning specific incidents…

Amnesty said it had also obtained photographs apparently showing the remnants of missiles known to be held only by U.S. forces at the site of a December air strike against al Qaeda suspects that killed 41 people, half of them children.

Amnesty said that air strike, in southern Abyan province, was an example of security forces “killing unlawfully by using excessive force.”

And went on to cite both American and British involvement with Saudi airstrikes on Yemen civilians:

Its report said: “Foreign governments, especially the UK and US governments, have supplied jet fighter aircraft associated weaponry, upgrades and related technical assistance to Saudi Arabia.

“These governments will now be aware of the allegations that Saudi Arabian aircraft carried out indiscriminate attacks and other violations of international humanitarian law that resulted in deaths of Yemeni civilians.”

Amnesty said,

“months of attacks saw heavy aerial bombardments, including from Saudi Arabian forces” last year as the Yemeni authorities, under pressure to confront threats from al-Qaida and Huthi Shia rebels, targeted Sa’dah in the north of the country last year.

“Amnesty has gained information pointing to hundreds – possibly thousands – of civilians being killed in the bombing,” the charity said. (emph. added)

[Goldstein1984]

1. Democrats and Republicans agree:

The post-Cold War "Peace Dividend" just wasn't profitable enough.

[katandmoon]

2. The Nobel Peace Prize is really tarnished for all time

[Ted_White]

33. Its has been since Kissinger won it.

[Redstone]

3. There are plenty of bad-news motherfuckers in Yemen, and they

need to be dealt with.

Don't kid yourself. The world is not a safe place, and Yemen is one of the least-safe places in that world.

Redstone

[FiveGoodMen]

5. I think we should kill everyone.

Let's just get it over with.

[Redstone]

7. Not everyone. Especially, not the kids. Just the bad guys.

Redstone

[Autumn]

9. Good idea

kill them all and let God sort them out
We should build a bomb that only kills bad people and stays away from children and innocent people. Then we can ALL support the wars and get rid of terrorism.
:sarcasm: I am pretty sure yours was sarcasm too.

[Redstone]

14. No, repeat NO children should ever be considered "collateral damage."

You want a terrorist act? Dropping 2,000-pound bombs on a crowded city (Baghdad) in the middle of the night is a fucking terrorist act, right there.

No. Just no. You let the bad guys go, if there's a chance you'll kill someone innocent trying to get them.

But that doesn't mean that the Bad Guys aren't out there. They are.

Redstone

[whatchamacallit]

20. Confused are we?

No one is arguing there aren't bad guys in the world, but this program obviously kills children and innocents. If, as you state, that's unacceptable, then we all agree it's a failure and should be ended immediately. Yay consensus!

[Redstone]

22. OK, we have consensus. Time to try something else.

Redstone

[whatchamacallit]

25. I'm with you Redstone :) (nt)

[seattleblue]

30. Just curious. Was dropping those bombs on civilian

populations in WW II terrorist acts? In WW II the U.S., England, Germany and Russia all bombed exclusively civilian populations. Were they terrorist acts?

[FiveGoodMen]

17. Yes, I was certainly being sarcastic

There are bad guys everywhere. Seriously.

But we can't afford to be at war with the entire world and we shouldn't be anyway.

[Redstone]

26. No, my GOD no, we can't "be at war with the entire world."

I've been in a war. That's nobody's idea of fun, unless they're seriously deranged.

But yes, as you said, there are bad guys everywhere. I'd vote to spend money to build them factories and give them jobs so they wouldn't, maybe, hate us so much.

That would be my preference. It would cost us a helluva lot less than we spent on weapons, yes?

Redstone

[FiveGoodMen]

28. Agreed.

[TheKentuckian]

6. and the tighter and more aggressive our grip the worse it gets

The Bush doctrine is just another failed "conservative" stance that will drain the treasury and make the nation less secure with new swaths of bitter enemies.

[Redstone]

8. Do some research on the CAP program in VietNam. A textbook example

of helping the Good Guys, while waxing the Bad Guys.

It worked.

Redstone

[G_j]

10. oh yea, "hearts and minds" worked so well in Nam

:sarcasm:

[Redstone]

12. Didn't do the research, did you?

Redstone

[G_j]

13. they tried it in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004 also

that worked out well...

[Redstone]

16. No, they did NOT try it in Fallujah. They just murdered everyone they saw.

Redstone

[G_j]

19. embedding

“embedding” U.S. troops in villages – to build relations with the local populace, train militias, gather intelligence, and deprive insurgents of vital supplies and geography – has its roots in the Combined Action Platoon (CAP)


on edit: though I really don't see the CAP/Yemen policy connection

[Redstone]

21. Last time: They didn't do that in Fallujah.

Redstone

[G_j]

23. admittedly it was a lie

http://www.counterpunch.org/chmiel01132005.html

<snip>

By contrast, United States military officials were offering this more upbeat assessment in the aftermath of the siege:

"We are attacking reconstruction efforts with the same grit, sweat and determination used to eliminate the malicious threat posed by the terrorists and insurgents," said Lt. Col. Dan Wilson, deputy operations officer of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Fallujah. "We want to help the residents, so they will be able to live in peace and enjoy the privilege of voting in the upcoming elections."

Military officials expressed sympathy with the plight of returning residents but said the blame should rest with militants who took control of the city and continued to hide among the population.

"Our forces never intentionally damage structures or homes," said Wilson, the deputy operations officer. "After all, we, in partnership with the interim Iraqi government, will be at the forefront of assisting in the restoration and cleanup of Falluja."

Michael Ware, Baghdad bureau chief for Time magazine, who has been in Fallujah during the fighting said "the name of the game is deny the population to the insurgents. That's what we're trying to do, win hearts and minds. But we're not winning them."

[Redstone]

27. Lying scumbag sons-of-bitches, as usual. "We had to destroy

the village to save it."

Oh, and not to mention, "If you grab them by the balls, their hearts and minds will surely follow."

Your point well-taken, OK? I have enough bitterness to last a lifetime, given the above.

Redstone

[G_j]

31. yes

the paragraphs proceeding described the terrible devastation.

[Redstone]

32. You know, I'm a bit surprised that "Fallujah!" is not a war-cry in Iraq.

What we did to that country is an utter disgrace.

Redstone

[G_j]

35. truly, and then there was the use of chemical weapons

I'm sure Fallujah will not soon be forgotten

[TheKentuckian]

24. What bad guys? Poor jungle dwellers caught up in bogus domino theory on both sides

to perpetrate eternal war?

Nam was a failure except for those wishing to entrench power and/or sell munitions and armament.

[Redstone]

29. "Jungle dwellers" is a pretty damn demeaning term.

And neither North nor South VietNam is largely jungle.

And, yes, there are indeed genuine Bad Guys out there. The NVA, for one. The Taliban, for another. If you have any daughters, would you like them to have their noses cut off because the Taliban doesn't like the fact that they go to school?

Redstone

[TheKentuckian]

34. We have plenty of "friends" with similar behaviors. Our allies play ball our enemies don't that is

the only meaningful distinction. We get "moral" if folks wish to run out multi-nationals or don't want to trade their resources in an acceptable manner, otherwise the mutilations, stonings, political prisoners, and beheadings aren't an issue.

Remember when Saddam was gassing Kurds? We sent Charles Schultz over and he gave the seal of approval and the whole situation was pretty much an overstated misunderstanding but as soon as he made waves that might affect the flow of oil it was an issue. When he started the talk of trading his oil for euros, it was a wrap.

Do we need to get into the South American puppets?

There is no level of depravity that money, strategic position, resources to plunder for multinationals, and/or free trade won't overcome...NONE.

[Octafish]

4. Automated Assassination and Mechanized Megawar

Mass Assassinations Lie at the Heart of America's Military Strategy in the Muslim World

Oh. Siegelman's not in the clear, Scrushy's still in prison and George Walker Bush and Richard Bruce Cheney remain free.

[whatchamacallit]

11. Fuck us! (nt)

[Chulanowa]

15. Didn't Egypt get its ass kicked in Yemen?

Don't the Egyptians consider Yemen their "Viet Nam"?

Mubarak should give the white house a ring and explain things in small words.

[Redstone]

18. Everyone gets their ass kicked in Yemen. It's just like Afghanistan;

they get together long enough to kick out whatever group of foreigners is there, then go back to merrily killing each other after they've thrown the foreigners out.

Redstone