The Briefing Room
General Category => World News => Topic started by: flowers on December 12, 2013, 10:26:44 pm
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-yemen-strike-idUSBRE9BB10O20131212
Reuters) - Fifteen people on their way to a wedding in Yemen were killed in an air strike after their party was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy, local security officials said on Thursday.
The officials did not identify the plane in the strike in central al-Bayda province, but tribal and local media sources said that it was a drone.
"An air strike missed its target and hit a wedding car convoy, ten people were killed immediately and another five who were injured died after being admitted to the hospital," one security official said.
Five more people were injured, the officials said.
The United States has stepped up drone strikes as part of a campaign against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), regarded by Washington as the most active wing of the militant network.
Yemen, AQAP's main stronghold, is among a handful of countries where the United States acknowledges using drones, although it does not comment on the practice.
Human Rights Watch said in a detailed report in August that U.S. missile strikes, including armed drone attacks, have killed dozens of civilians in Yemen.
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Obama keeps this up, and he will have killed more people than our soldiers who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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That's certainly the way to restore America's respect in the world. /snicker
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another wedding party
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another wedding party
it does always seem to be wedding parties, doesn't it?
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it does always seem to be wedding parties, doesn't it?
It usually is. Sadly. It's tradition for all the family, both sides, to accompany the groom and his purchase (sorry, bride) to the ceremony. They do look an awful lot like convoys, except for the bright flags and streamers.
AQ started to use that as a shield for moving groups around the country. So - blame AQ. Not the drone operators in this case.
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It usually is. Sadly. It's tradition for all the family, both sides, to accompany the groom and his purchase (sorry, bride) to the ceremony. They do look an awful lot like convoys, except for the bright flags and streamers.
AQ started to use that as a shield for moving groups around the country. So - blame AQ. Not the drone operators in this case.
The drone operators bear responsibility as well. They shouldn't be shooting at such convoys, be they wedding parties or not, until they've managed to carefully exclude the possibility of a wedding party.
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The drone operators bear responsibility as well. They shouldn't be shooting at such convoys, be they wedding parties or not, until they've managed to carefully exclude the possibility of a wedding party.
It's why I dislike drones. Too much risk of colats.
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It's why I dislike drones. Too much risk of colats.
exactly. the use of violence has to be proportionate to the legitimate objective and the risks of collateral damage. disproportionate violence is wrong (and in some circumstances can become a war crime if egregious enough).
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This is Obama's watch, remember the guy who got the Nobel Peace prize for winning his first election as Potus.
So in yet another area of his responsibility, he is negligent and incompetent.
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This will not go over well for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner.
According to the new book “Double Down,” in which journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann chronicle the 2012 presidential election, President Barack Obama told his aides that he’s “really good at killing people” while discussing drone strikes.
Peter Hamby of The Washington Post noted the moment in his review of the book.
The reported claim by the commander-in-chief is as indisputable as it is grim.
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-said-hes-really-good-at-killing-people-2013-11
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It's all like a big video game to Obama. That real people die is of no consequence to him.