U.S. Drones Kill More Than 30 in Yemen; School Targeted in One Attack

[Right Wing]

U.S. Drones Kill More Than 30 in Yemen; School Targeted in One Attack
Another man who spoke to Hakim related that he and two children “live in constant fear of drone strikes.” And, according to his story, it’s not without good reason.

After he picked up his daughter from school to take her to a doctor’s appointment, Hellfire missiles fired from U.S. drones destroyed the clinic. He grabbed his daughter and ran back to the school to take cover. Before he got there, though, the school was obliterated by a second missile. His daughter was struck in the back of the head by debris and she bled to death in his arms.

“What did my daughter ever do to them?” he cried. “She was eight years old.”

That innocent little girl died in her father's arms despite promises by President Obama to scale back the use of drones and to confine their use to known terrorists and their associates.

In a policy speech delivered in May, the president assured citizens that drones would be used more discriminately only to “dismantle networks that pose a direct danger to us.”

But given the apparent disregard for venue or victim, how many other parents have buried their babies after the drones returned to their secret bases?

http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/fo...han-30-in-yemen-school-targeted-in-one-attack

I feel much safer now. Thanks, Obama.

 

[Carson]

OH!!!

That Glenn Greenwald!

 

[Carson]

The day 69 children died

 

[Carson]

"For those of us more concerned with the Constitution, the rule of law, and the sanctity of human life than the president, “suspected militant” means nothing other than a person not charged with any crime, not afforded even the most perfunctory due process protections, but summarily executed upon order of the president anyway. What, then, are the practices or principles that separate the president from those he orders assassinated in the name of safety?"

We seem to have set a precedent for presidents globally.

 

[AngryCanadian]

And what a surprise our MSM is silent about the deaths i guess they demand more blood.

 

[Zippyjuan]

A bit more from the story- not justifying or arguing for or against- just providing more info:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23595388

The streets of the coastal town of Zinjibar in southern Yemen are reduced to rubble. Buildings are bombed out.

This town was on the front line of a battle between the Yemeni army and al-Qaeda in June 2012.

Government forces prevailed and one of al-Qaeda's most dangerous offshoots - al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) - slunk into the shadows.

But it remains dangerous. Al-Qaeda cells still operate here and there is also the risk of bandits who rob and kidnap.

In a safe house with guards stationed outside, Mohammed Ahmad Bagash, a mechanic from the nearby town of Jaar, tells me his story.


During the fighting, al Qaeda fighters stored ammunition in the local hospital against the wishes of the doctors.

After the hospital was hit by a missile strike, Mohammed and his two children ran to a school and hid in the basement.

But then the school was hit in a suspected drone strike.

"It was as if everyone was burning. It was all dark," said Mr Bagash.

"When the smoke cleared, I saw my son's leg was bleeding, and my daughter was hit on the back of the head," he said.

He carried both children out. His son survived but his eight-year-old daughter bled to death on the way to the hospital.

"As she bled, she went yellow. She actually started to shrink in my arms," he said.

Several other children were injured in the attack.

A man walks past destroyed buildings in Zinjibar in southern Yemen Mr Bagash has a question for the person who ordered the drone strike: "What did my daughter ever do to them? She was only eight years old."

And then a bleak observation.

"They think we're rats. We're not. We're human beings."

It is a remote automated war for the United States where the strikes have been successful in taking out al-Qaeda's leadership.

But for Yemenis, it is terror from the air.


And a young Yemeni democracy campaigner has a worrying message for Washington.

"The US thinks it understands Yemen but the drones have been one of the most effective tools for AQAP to succeed in Yemen," said Farea al-Muslimi.

"A big part of al-Qaeda power at the moment is convincing Yemenis that they are in a war with America, (that) America is attacking the sovereignty of Yemen and this government is non-legitimate."

Mr al-Muslimi is one of the most pro-American voices in Yemen. He testified in front of a US Senate committee in a personal capacity after his own village was struck by a drone.

He thinks the US is wrong to stay silent when civilians are being killed in targeted strikes.

"You're killing civilians for no reason," said Mr al-Muslimi. "And you're not even going to say sorry after that or admit it, or issue an apology, or pay compensation?"

 

[pcosmar]

Everyone is al-Qaeda.
Any resistance to corrupt governments and US puppets is al-Qaeda.

What is that,, Arabic for Patriot?

It seems that here Patriots are considered terrorists so it might make sense.

 

[HOLLYWOOD]

You can see the incremental steps before your eyes over these past few hundred days...

Anyone will be labeled a terrorist, anyone will be eliminated for any reason they spin, and too bad if there's any collateral damage, the megalomaniacs controlling the country have repeatedly proved they don't give fuck about life, costs, or freedoms.

The Borg system is manifesting and morphing upon itself, growing like a bad infection, getting worse and worse, destroying more and more.

Washington DC is a state of paranoia, bribed into a 1984 security and waring scenario

 

[fr33]

I apologize to the Yemenis for paying taxes to the criminals that bombed your country. They held a gun to my head and forced me to pay for it. You have every right under natural law to attack US interests.

No Yemeni ever attacked me.

Peace to you. Death to government.

 

[The Bavarian]

reading things like this makes me sick...

 

[Carson]

""When the smoke cleared, I saw my son's leg was bleeding, and my daughter was hit on the back of the head," he said.

He carried both children out. His son survived but his eight-year-old daughter bled to death on the way to the hospital.

"As she bled, she went yellow. She actually started to shrink in my arms," he said."

 

[tod evans]

And what a surprise our MSM is silent about the deaths i guess they demand more blood.

It's their MSM.

The propaganda arm of them...

 

[Origanalist]

 

[tod evans]

Kind of OT but relevant to the issue of drone strikes..

Discussing who authorizes drone strikes with my child and he grasps that the prez is Commander in Chief but a google search hasn't given me any results pointing to the ranking officer in charge of the drone program.

I believe it's a safe bet to assume that whomever it is has pushed this technologies use for more than BO's term as Commander...

Any ideas who this unsearchable war-monger is?

 

[kcchiefs6465]

Kind of OT but relevant to the issue of drone strikes..

Discussing who authorizes drone strikes with my child and he grasps that the prez is Commander in Chief but a google search hasn't given me any results pointing to the ranking officer in charge of the drone program.

I believe it's a safe bet to assume that whomever it is has pushed this technologies use for more than BO's term as Commander...

Any ideas who this unsearchable war-monger is?

CIA Director John Brennan (formerly Michael Morell, David Petraeus, Leon Panetta, Michael Hayden) or Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. (formerly Leon Panetta, Robert Gates, Donald Rumsfield) As I recall the CIA shifted the drone program over to the Department of Defense. President Obama was vague in affirming that that was the case and I would be unsurprised if the CIA still conducted drone strikes in certain instances. No doubt both would be present at meetings determining who they feel should be targeted. All of the men listed very well could and should be charged with war crimes.

There are many down the line who should be charged with war crimes as well. From Obama's former National Security Advisor, Tom Donilon, who was recently replaced by Susan Rice, all the way down to the soldier who fires the missile. There is a group of about 15 people who advise Obama when he is reviewing the flash cards and trying to determine who ought to be assassinated.

I don't know if you've heard this or not but Israel recently performed a drone strike in Egypt. (or they are covering for something we did, the articles I've read on it read a little bit fishy) It is a bad precedent for the world with China now having the technology and other countries as well. If they end up feeling the same way we do about a nation's sovereignty it will be very 'interesting' in the times ahead. We blatantly reject the notion of airspace and bomb different areas on whim and without permission. It isn't that far-fetched to imagine a time where other countries may feel the same way.


Secret ‘Kill List’ Proves a Test of Obama’s Principles and Will [article explains a little more about the process and who is involved]

It is also because Mr. Obama embraced a disputed method for counting civilian casualties that did little to box him in. It in effect counts all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants, according to several administration officials, unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent.

hxxp://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on-al-qaeda.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

“Did We Just Kill a Kid?”: Drone Operator Who Killed Afghan Child Can't Sleep After Waging War Miles Away

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-po...ator-who-killed-afghan-child-cant-sleep-after

Predator Drone Strikes: 36 Civilians Are Murdered For Every Terrorist Killed By a Drone [I've seen estimates as high as it being 50 civilians]

According to Global Research, over the past 4 years Obama has authorized attacks in Pakistan which have killed more than 800 innocent civilians and just 22 Al-Qaeda officers.

That constitutes at least 36 civilians per target.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/2...urdered-for-every-terrorist-killed-by-a-drone

Grandfather of American Teen Killed in Drone Strike Demands Answers

The grandfather of an American teenager who was killed in a drone strike in Yemen said he plans to petition a federal court Friday, saying the Obama administration “must answer for its actions and be held accountable.”

Nasser al-Awlaki, father of high profile al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki and grandfather to Anwar’s son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, made the announcement in an Op-Ed in The New York Times today.

Abdulrahman was 16 years old when he was killed in a strike in Yemen in the fall of 2011 just weeks after Anwar was killed in a separate strike. Altogether, American drones have killed at least four U.S. citizens since 2009, but Anwar was the only American purposefully targeted, according to Attorney General Eric Holder.

hxxp://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/07/grandfather-of-american-teen-killed-in-drone-strike-demands-answers/

 

[Christian Liberty]

I apologize to the Yemenis for paying taxes to the criminals that bombed your country. They held a gun to my head and forced me to pay for it. You have every right under natural law to attack US interests.

No Yemeni ever attacked me.

Peace to you. Death to government.

Just want to point out, the logical conclusion to the pro bombing position in the WWII thread is to say that retaliation against US citizens for this would be justified. Just saying.

 

[enhanced_deficit]

Do people in foreign countries who get all pissed at Obama over drone killings know that he is not really in charge and is just a plant taking orders from his pupms ?

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...Africa-visit&p=5101343&viewfull=1#post5101343


That said, I agree that he is a suspected war criminal and coward.

 

[Christian Liberty]

Do people in foreign countries who get all pissed at Obama over drone killings know that he is not really in charge and is just a plant taking orders from his pupms ?

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...Africa-visit&p=5101343&viewfull=1#post5101343


That said, I agree that he is a suspected war criminal and coward.

And? What's your point?

He's still guilty for his actions, even if he's acting "Under Orders."

The US military, similarly, is guilty for each person they have killed even if they're acting under orders.

 

[brushfire]

Its all about the children.

 

[Christian Liberty]

26 innocent people get killed by a private citizen who is now dead.... "Ban the guns!"

30 innocent people get killed by the President of the United States "Keep fighting for our freedoms!"

With all due respect to the liberty lovers here who have parrticipated in the military, I honestly hate our military at this point.

At some people you've got to reach a point where you admit that the idolatrous hero-worship of murderers is just that. That really just clicked in my mind a few days ago.

If you support these kind of anti-terror tactics, you should have supported the 9/11 attacks as well. Its literally the same thing, except that unfortunately in this case, the perpetrators aren't dead.