The Forever War: U.S. building secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say

[Cali_Democrat]

By Craig Whitlock and Greg Miller

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 the 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 Somali territory 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.

Read More: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/20/wapo/main20109195.shtml

[villager]

1. our economy -- such as it is -- can no longer function w/o war. Therefore, we need an entirely new..

...economy, and leaders who can actually articulate that.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Right now what's going on is essentially Keynesianism for the Military Industrial Complex

Politicians scream about defense cuts because of their negative impact on jobs. Instead of building roads and bridges with government money, they prefer to build bombs and missiles.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. "You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." Albert Einstein

[WinkyDink]

4. They must be free, because the US has no money. RIGHT???

[Hardrada]

5. Where are they getting the authority to do this?

[sad sally]

6. Bases for more Special Ops? The morality and legality of such operations

isn't being questioned in any depth by either congress or US citizens. The idea that soldiers can be exempted from facing the enemy is seen by some as a good thing - fewer causalities, fewer life changing injuries; however, this machine driven war radically changes the rules of war engagement.

Without coming to an international agreement by all nations on the acceptance and use of unmanned killing machines, the US methods of war make it truly a rouge nation. We shouldn't be surprised if in the future, these methods of war end up being waged upon America. (I am strongly against these illegal and immoral war methods.) From TomDisptach:


A Secret War in 120 Countries
The Pentagon’s New Power Elite
By Nick Turse

Somewhere on this planet an American commando is carrying out a mission. Now, say that 70 times and you’re done... for the day. Without the knowledge of the American public, a secret force within the U.S. military is undertaking operations in a majority of the world’s countries. This new Pentagon power elite is waging a global war whose size and scope has never been revealed, until now.

After a U.S. Navy SEAL put a bullet in Osama bin Laden’s chest and another in his head, one of the most secretive black-ops units in the American military suddenly found its mission in the public spotlight. It was atypical. While it’s well known that U.S. Special Operations forces are deployed in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, and it’s increasingly apparent that such units operate in murkier conflict zones like Yemen and Somalia, the full extent of their worldwide war has remained deeply in the shadows.

---

During his recent Senate confirmation hearings, Navy Vice Admiral William McRaven, the incoming SOCOM chief and outgoing head of JSOC (which he commanded during the bin Laden raid) endorsed a steady manpower growth rate of 3% to 5% a year, while also making a pitch for even more resources, including additional drones and the construction of new special operations facilities.

A former SEAL who still sometimes accompanies troops into the field, McRaven expressed a belief that, as conventional forces are drawn down in Afghanistan, special ops troops will take on an ever greater role. Iraq, he added, would benefit if elite U.S forces continued to conduct missions there past the December 2011 deadline for a total American troop withdrawal. He also assured the Senate Armed Services Committee that “as a former JSOC commander, I can tell you we were looking very hard at Yemen and at Somalia.”

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175426/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_uncovering_the_military%27s_secret_military/?du

[Kolesar]

7. Now the CIA is the fifth branch of the military

Or the fourth or the sixth, depending on how you count the Coast Guard or the Marine Corps.

Cheaper than the Air Force or the carrier wings!! We can lay those guys off and they can find work selling insurance or something.

[Owlet]

8. I guess they're not secert anymore (nt)

[Cali_Democrat]

11. There are probably others we aren't aware of

The US govt has a hard on for secretive bases and detention centers. They love to keep them away from the prying eyes of the public, news media and human rights organizations.

[Robb]

9. "Join the CIA, and work in the Seychelles."

Now that's recruiting, folks. Beats the hell out of "waterskiing in Germany."

[99th_Monkey]

10. US Empire spares no expense to forcably impose it's "interests" on darker-skinned nations nt