America is intensifying a secret war in Yemen, continuing drone strikes in Pakistan
Yemen, exploiting a growing power vacuum in the country to strike at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets, according to American officials.
The acceleration of the American campaign in recent weeks comes amid a violent conflict in Yemen that has left the government in Sana, a United States ally, struggling to cling to power. Yemeni troops that had been battling militants linked to Al Qaeda in the south have been pulled back to the capital, and American officials see the strikes as one of the few options to keep the militants from consolidating power.
On Friday, American jets killed Abu Ali al-Harithi, a midlevel Qaeda operative, and several other militant suspects in a strike in southern Yemen. According to witnesses, four civilians were also killed in the airstrike. Weeks earlier, drone aircraft fired missiles aimed at Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical American-born cleric who the United States government has tried to kill for more than a year. Mr. Awlaki survived.
The recent operations come after a nearly year-long pause in American airstrikes, which were halted amid concerns that poor intelligence had led to bungled missions and civilian deaths that were undercutting the goals of the secret campaign.
Officials in Washington said that the American and Saudi spy services had been receiving more information — from electronic eavesdropping and informants — about the possible locations of militants. But, they added, the outbreak of the wider conflict in Yemen created a new risk: that one faction might feed information to the Americans that could trigger air strikes against a rival group.
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Editor’s notes: I’m amazed the New York Times is publishing this as I would expect them to gloss over this as if it never happened like Fukushima or the current imperialist intervention in Libya and the deaths of civilians at NATO hands. In Yemen, as is the case with all Predator Drone attacks, civilians are inevitably murdered. To make matters worse, Anwar al-Awlaki is the American al Qaeda puppet who dined at the Pentagon months after 9/11. The notion that the United States would actually be actively targeting one of their assets is completely absurd. This is just as blatant as the bin Laden PSYOP and I think everyone in the “reality based community” as some might call it will realize this.
Take note of this news as well:
24 more killed in North Waziristan drone attacks
June 8th, 2011
Twenty-four people, including suspected militants, were killed and a number of others injured in a deadly missile attack by US spy planes in the remote Shawal Valley of North Waziristan on Wednesday.
Tribal sources and government officials said the drones fired four missiles, hitting a double cabin pickup truck as soon as it entered a house in the forested and mountainous Shawal Valley, 75 kilometres west of North Waziristan’s main town, Miramshah.
According to sources, four unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were seen flying in the area during the missile strike on the house. The drones have rarely been seen targeting suspected hideouts of militants in Shawal Valley, which is considered safer due to dense forests. Also, the area is far away from major populated areas such as Miramshah and Dattakhel and those tasked to spy on the Taliban for the CIA and other spy networks are facing difficulties in accessing the area. The valley is close to Afghanistan’s Paktika province and also the South Waziristan tribal region.
Some tribesmen felt it seemed the drones were following the double cabin pickup truck carrying some people, suspected to be militants, from somewhere near the Afghan border. According to tribal sources, the drones were circling overhead and started firing missiles when the vehicle entered the house. The vehicle caught fire and was blown to pieces.
More here.
Editor’s notes continued: murdering 24 human beings and injuring others for “suspected militants”? I do not support my tax money being sent on bombs that are dropped on people who are most likely suspects because they happen to have an AK-47 in the dangerous tribal region of Pakistan. Militants don’t walk around with a sign reading, “I’m a militant! Please blow me and dozens of other people up!” At least, not as far as I know. The more troubling aspect of this news is that this flies in the face of Pakistan’s demands to maintain their sovereign airspace.
Pakistan demands halt to U.S. drone strikes
May 15th, 2011
The United States and Pakistan are veering toward a deep clash, with Pakistan’s parliament demanding a permanent halt to all drone strikes just as the most senior American official since the killing of Osama bin Laden is to arrive with a stern message that the country has only months to show it is truly committed to rooting out al Qaeda and associated groups.
The United States has increased drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas in the past 10 days in an effort to exploit the uncertainty and disarray among militant ranks after bin Laden’s death May 2.
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Madison Ruppert is a Los Angeles-based independent journalist and researcher as well as the founder, owner, administrator and editor of EndtheLie.com. He has no affiliations with any government agencies, political parties, non-governmental organizations, or economic schools. He is available for freelance writing assignments and appearances or interviews in any format. He can be reached by emailing 