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Vol. 75/No. 24      July 4, 2011

 
Washington escalates campaign of
assassinations by drones in Yemen
 
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
Washington is stepping up its use of armed aerial drones to assassinate members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as a key component of its escalating covert war in Yemen. U.S. military operations there are modeled after the Barack Obama administration’s campaign of drone bombing and use of special forces in Pakistan, under which more than 200 drone strikes have killed roughly 2,000 people, including hundreds of civilians.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the plan for expanding airstrikes in Yemen was “secretly approved” by the Obama administration last year. Over the past several months the CIA and U.S. special forces on the ground in Yemen, working together with spies of the neighboring Saudi monarchy, have been gathering information on targets.

The CIA is also building a secret air base in some unnamed country in the Middle East to conduct these assaults, according to the New York Times. The CIA coordinates its military operations with the Pentagon’s Joint Special Operations Command, which over the past two years has been launching air assaults against Yemen. This includes sea-launched cruise missiles—one of which killed 40 civilians last year—and munitions fired from Marine Harrier jets.

In early June, a U.S. airstrike in Yemen killed Abu Ali al-Harithi, an al-Qaeda member, several other “militant suspects,” and at least four civilians, reported the Times. Several weeks earlier, a drone missile strike was launched in southern Yemen aimed at killing New Mexico-born Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen.

These moves come amidst ongoing protests demanding the ouster of Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key U.S. ally in the region who has ruled with dictatorial powers since 1978. In early June an attack by rebels on the president’s palace severely injured Saleh, forcing him to depart for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Tens of thousands have taken to the streets opposing his return and demanding his sons, one of whom commands the Yemeni Presidential Guard, also leave the country.

Bosses have responded to the protests with massive layoffs of workers. Nearly 60 percent employed in the private sector have lost their jobs. Some workers have been forced to take indefinite unpaid “vacations.” Many state workers are not being paid on time and some have had wage raises suspended, reported the Yemen Post.  
 
 
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