U.S. Missile Strike in Yemen.

[applecorped]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iFMgPQJ8pzn0nNobO7-B2_AKNzrw

US President Barack Obama approved firepower, intelligence and other support requested by the Yemeni government to help it strike Al-Qaeda militants, The New York Times reported Saturday.Yemeni security forces killed at least 28 Al-Qaeda militants and captured 17 others in operations backed by air strikes on Thursday that foiled imminent suicide attacks, the defense ministry said.
But witnesses said civilians were among about 50 people killed.

 

[DGM]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iFMgPQJ8pzn0nNobO7-B2_AKNzrw

US President Barack Obama approved firepower, intelligence and other support requested by the Yemeni government to help it strike Al-Qaeda militants, The New York Times reported Saturday.Yemeni security forces killed at least 28 Al-Qaeda militants and captured 17 others in operations backed by air strikes on Thursday that foiled imminent suicide attacks, the defense ministry said.
But witnesses said civilians were among about 50 people killed.

So how many "civilians" were among the 50 killed?

 

[Darth Rotor]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iFMgPQJ8pzn0nNobO7-B2_AKNzrw

US President Barack Obama approved firepower, intelligence and other support requested by the Yemeni government to help it strike Al-Qaeda militants, The New York Times reported Saturday.Yemeni security forces killed at least 28 Al-Qaeda militants and captured 17 others in operations backed by air strikes on Thursday that foiled imminent suicide attacks, the defense ministry said.

But witnesses said civilians were among about 50 people killed.[/QUOTE]

Gee, there's a shock.

 

[popscythe]

So how many "civilians" were among the 50 killed?

None, you're totally right. They used airstrikes (bombs) on some terrorists in Yemen who were "imminently" about to suicide bomb some other terrorists. The resulting blast killed all the terrorists, but the imminent victims were unscathed, because friendly fire was off.

 

[KoihimeNakamura]

A proportion would be useful.

 

[plumjam]

Reuters are now saying this was a grunt trying to type 'enemy' into the targeting system.

 

[richardm]

So how many "civilians" were among the 50 killed?

I suppose the implication is that if 28 Al-Qaeda militants were killed, then the other 22 weren't Al-Qaeda militants. But then the phrase "At least" is also used, so we're not going to get a proper answer yet. Or possibly ever.

 

[applecorped]

http://www.islamidavet.com/english/tag/us-nobel-peace-prize-laureate-president-barack-obama/

US Nobel Peace Prize laureate President Barack Obama has signed the order for a recent military strike on Yemen in which scores of civilians, including children, have been killed, a report says.





It's good to see the world recognizing our President's achievements!

 

[Praktik]

Another case of one step forward, two steps back - interesting Time article on the strike:

[R]egardless of who did what, a primary target in the attacks -- Qasim al-Raymi, the al-Qaeda leader who is believed to be behind a 2007 bombing in central Yemen that killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemenis -- is still at large. And reports of a U.S. role, and mass civilian casualties at the sites of the attacks, have sparked a public outcry and added to anti-American sentiments across the country. "They missed that individual," says Johnsen of the targeted al-Qaeda chief. "And at the same time, they ended up killing a number of women and children in the strike on Abyan. So now you have something where there are all these pictures of dead infants and mangled children that are underlined with the caption 'Made in the USA' on all the jihadi forums. Something like this does much more to extend al-Qaeda."

Indeed through the backlash that followed, the attacks have started to look like more of a boon than a bust for Yemen's al-Qaeda revival, as well as for other opponents of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime. Iran -- which Yemen accuses of backing the Shi'ite Houthi rebellion in the north -- headlined the attacks on its state-sponsored Press TV with: "Obama ordered deadly blitz on Yemen."

"The al-Qaeda threat in Yemen is real, but now after this operation, it will be greater," says Mohammed Quhtan, a member of Yemen's opposition Islamist al-Islah party. "Al-Qaeda will be able to recruit a lot more young people, at least from the tribes that were hit. And it will have reasonable grounds to attract more people from Abyan governorate, and from the Yemeni population in general. . . . "If you're going to carry out [an attack] like this, you have to have done a great deal of field work, where you've sort of undermined al-Qaeda through development and aid so that when something like this happens, al-Qaeda can't easily replace the individuals that it has lost," says Johnsen. "But if you don't take those steps then the pool of recruits just starts to multiply exponentially."​

America shooting itself in the foot?

 

[theprestige]

[/INDENT]America shooting itself in the foot?

Please don't ascribe the decisions of the President to the nation as a whole.

And here I was musing about how there wasn't much for me to dislike about Obama's willingness to shoot missiles at terrorists. Turns out he's discovered a way to screw up even that straightforward neocon policy.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Please don't ascribe the decisions of the President to the nation as a whole.

And here I was musing about how there wasn't much for me to dislike about Obama's willingness to shoot missiles at terrorists. Turns out he's discovered a way to screw up even that straightforward neocon policy.

Actually, if our President goons it up in matters like this, America does indeed stand to look good, bad, or indifferent, as the case may be. This war and working with foreign governments to kill terrorists deal is his arena, for better and worse. He carries our colors on his sleeve when he and his team do stuff like this. Again, for better and worse.

As to this particular strike, claims of "innocence" when it comes to people who hang around terrorists/Al Q sorts are IMO overinflated and frequently dishonest. ON the other hand, sometimes people end up by accident in the wrong place and get killed.

Welcome to 4GW. It ain't any prettier than any previous version of war.

DR

 

[theprestige]

Actually, if our President goons it up in matters like this, America does indeed stand to look good, bad, or indifferent, as the case may be. This war and working with foreign governments to kill terrorists deal is his arena, for better and worse. He carries our colors on his sleeve when he and his team do stuff like this. Again, for better and worse.

Oh, for sure. But unless you're going to argue that American citizens collectively shot themselves in the foot by electing Obama to begin with, I think this particular incident would be more aptly described as "American President shoots America in foot". After all, it's not like we citizens got together, deliberated on the question of delivering beatings to terrorists, and voted to chump up this particular mission.

Welcome to 4GW. It ain't any prettier than any previous version of war.

On an individual basis, it sure isn't. On the other hand, as lesser evils go, the transition from "carpet-bomb a city center, and cause collateral damage for miles around" to "shoot a missile at a house, and cause collateral damage for maybe a city block" makes 4GW a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

I mean, there was a time when we'd have been at war with all of Yemen, and probably several of its neighbors. This is definitely an improvement, even if Obama occasionally has to ask himself, in the words of David Byrne, "how do I work this?"

 

[Darth Rotor]

Oh, for sure. But unless you're going to argue that American citizens collectively shot themselves in the foot by electing Obama to begin with, I think this particular incident would be more aptly described as "American President shoots America in foot".

That's one way to look at it. I tend to agree more with John Wayne in re JFK: I didn't vote for him, but he's my/our president. He has to do his best in many of our collective endeavours, which is his role.

On the other hand, as lesser evils go

... it brings IED's into market places. ,

Obama occasionally has to ask himself, in the words of David Byrne, "how do I work this?"

Aye.

 

[Skeptic]

US Nobel Peace Prize laureate President Barack Obama has signed the order for a recent military strike on Yemen in which scores of civilians, including children, have been killed, a report says.

It's always "including children" in such messages, true or not. After all, no point for the Al Quaeda or Hamas activists setting up camp among civilian population if only adults were killed when the eeeeeeeeeevil USA (or Israel) hits them, now is there?

That would ruin the entire "WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!" propaganda stance the terrorists are so good at presenting when somebody dares interrupt their quiet, peaceful preparations to rocket another Jewish kindergarten, bomb another school bus, or make thousands of children orphans by flying planes into office buildings.

 

[Puppycow]

Ft. Hood connection?

Yemeni air strike kills 30, targets home of cleric linked to Ft. Hood attack

If this is true, I fully support it.

 

[Skeptic]

Gee, I thought the Ft. Hood attach had nothing to do with Islamism?

 

[willhaven]

Gee, I thought the Ft. Hood attach had nothing to do with Islamism?

If that story is true, I guess you were wrong.