Monday, February 24, 2014

Yemeni Wedding Present

From Obummer and the United States government....

"Drone may have killed civilians, group says; US says attack hit only militants" by Kimberly Dozier |  Associated Press, February 21, 2014

WASHINGTON — A US military drone strike in Yemen last December may have killed up to a dozen civilians on their way to a wedding and injured others, including the bride, a human rights group says. US officials say only members of Al Qaeda were killed, but have refused to make public the details of two US investigations into the incident.

Human Rights Watch released a report on the drone strike Thursday, citing interviews with eight witnesses and relatives of the dead as well as Yemeni officials.The report said four Hellfire missiles were fired at a wedding procession of 11 vehicles on Dec. 12, 2013, in Radda in southern Yemen, killing at least 12 men and wounding at least 15 others.

The report said the procession ‘‘may have included members’’ of Yemen’s Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, ‘‘although it is not clear who they were or what was their fate.’’ Family members and survivors say all those hit were civilians; Yemeni officials told Human Rights Watch that most were militants.

‘‘We asked both the Yemeni and the US authorities to tell us which of the dead and wounded were members of militant groups and which, if any, were civilians,’’ said report author Letta Tayler, a senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at Human Rights Watch. ‘‘They did not reply to this question.’’

She added: ‘‘While we do not rule out the possibility that AQAP fighters were killed and wounded in this strike, we also do not rule out the possibility that all of those killed and wounded were civilians.’’

The New York-based group called on the US government to investigate and make the findings public.

Where will more US government lies get us?

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby, said he would not comment on specific operational details. He noted that the Yemeni government has stated that the targets were ‘‘dangerous senior Al Qaeda militants.’’

US and Yemeni officials said the target of the attack, Shawqi Ali Ahmad al-Badani, a midlevel Al Qaeda leader, was wounded and had escaped.

So he can be resurrected again.

--more--"

Looks like the people of Yemen have also had enough of their U.S-installed regime, it's drone strikes against wedding parties, and the Al-CIA-Duh antics, huh? 

"The attack underscores the ability of the militant group, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to exploit security lapses in Yemen, despite a dramatic rise in the number of US drone strikes on militants there since President Obama took office.... 

Yeah, can't lay those dead at the feet of Bush.

Yemen has been plagued by troubles including a powerful Al Qaeda insurgency in the south and in much of its remote hinterland, a rebel Shi’ite movement in the north and a separatist drive, also in the south....

The brazen, Al Qaeda-style attack follows a rise in US drone strikes in this key American ally in the Middle East. The two-stage operation came as the defense minister was in Washington for talks. The US military increased its regional alert status after the attack and is ‘‘fully prepared to support our Yemeni partners,’’ a senior US defense official said."

Can the staged and scripted mind manipulation and agenda advancing be any more obvious?

They even have them apologizing for attacking the hospital! It's kind of a give-and-take situation, if you know what I mean

Time to give
:

"Transfer recommended for Guantánamo detainee" by Charlie Savage |  New York Times, January 10, 2014

WASHINGTON — In the first results of a long-delayed Obama administration initiative to hold parolelike hearings at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a military panel has recommended transferring a Yemeni detainee who had been ordered to be detained indefinitely without trial, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

The decision to change the status of Mahmoud Mujahid — who had been considered too dangerous to let go under any conditions — was made by a Periodic Review Board. Obama issued an executive order establishing the review board system in March 2011, but it had not been used before Mujahid’s hearing last fall. 

Then issue one to abolish the place -- although it wouldn't real matter since they will just be cast adrift from now on.

“By consensus, the PRB members found that continued law of war detention is no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the United States,” the military said.

The change does not mean that Mujahid is likely to be released anytime soon; 55 other Yemeni detainees have long been recommended for transfer, but remain stranded at Guantánamo because of poor security conditions in Yemen.

Then all this announcement does is repair and rehabilitate the U.S. image, huh?

--more--"