CIA seeks new authority to expand Yemen drone campaign. The practice has been a core element of the CIA’s drone program in Pakistan for several years.
CIA Director David H. Petraeus has requested permission to use the tactic against the al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, which has emerged as the most pressing terrorism threat to the United States, officials said. If approved, the change would probably accelerate a campaign of U.S. airstrikes in Yemen that is already on a record pace, with at least eight attacks in the past four months. For President Obama, an endorsement of signature strikes would mean a significant, and potentially risky, policy shift. The administration has placed tight limits on drone operations in Yemen to avoid being drawn into an often murky regional conflict and risk turning militants with local agendas into al-Qaeda recruits.
A senior administration official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations, declined to talk about what he described as U.S. A quickening pace. LOOOL MY BAD! SAD FACE! ;( US terror drones kill 35, wounds dozens in southern Somalia. At least 35 people have been killed and dozens of others wounded in a missile attack by two US assassination drones in southern Somalia, Press TV reports.
The casualties come after an unmanned aircraft fired several missiles at al-Shabab training bases located between the country’s capital city of Mogadishu and its neighboring city Afgoye on Thursday. Captain Mohamed Haruun, a military official from the Halane military base, confirmed the attack, saying two US assassination drones were sent from the base late at night. Haruun added that dozens of Somali troops were later deployed to seize the control of the damaged bases to from al-Shabab fighters. The US military uses remote-controlled drones in Somalia to carry out reconnaissance operations and targeted killings.
The US has been using its drones in other countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and. In an Israeli lab, the world's smallest drone. PE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" " We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists - Trailer. Q & A: US Targeted Killings and International Law. Following the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, President George W.
Bush began a campaign of “targeted killings” against suspected members of al Qaeda and other armed groups. It has continued under the administration of President Barack Obama. This Q&A focuses on legal and policy issues related to targeted killings, primarily attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles, known as drones, conducted by the US Armed Forces and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Human Rights Watch raised many of the issues addressed here in a December 2010 letter to President Obama. Human Rights Watch calls upon the US government to clarify fully and publicly its legal rationale for conducting targeted killings and the legal limits on such strikes. 1.
In recent years the phrase “targeted killing” has commonly been used to refer to a deliberate lethal attack by government forces against a specific individual not in custody under the color of law. Drone Strikes Resume, Rumored To Kill Top Pakistani Militant. It’s an arresting sight: A Pakistani Taliban commander confidently rolls into a village in an American Humvee his forces have just captured.
He turns to the journalists he has come to address and delivers a stark warning in Urdu: “If America continues bombing the tribal areas and martyrs innocent people, we are compelled to attack them.” This November 2008 footage from our FRONTLINE/World report Children of the Taliban, embedded above, was the first time anyone had filmed Hakimullah Mehsud, then the new deputy leader of the Pakistani Taliban. In the film, reporter Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy traveled across her fractured homeland to investigate the Pakistani Taliban’s rising popularity. At the time, the bold and charismatic Mehsud was rising fast within the militant group. In late August 2009, Mehsud became chief of the Pakistani Taliban, after its previous leader was killed in a drone strike. American officials have not confirmed nor denied the most recent reports of Mehsud’s death. Unmanned drones used within UK civil airspace: Who is ensuring that the public’s privacy and civil liberties are protected?
Aerovironment Wasp III – one of drones being flown in UK civil airspace Analysis of information received in response to a series of Freedom of Information requests to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has revealed that around fifty to sixty companies and public bodies per year are being granted “blanket permission” to fly unmanned drones within UK civil airspace.
With very few exceptions each flight must remain under 400 feet and within 500 metres of the operator. While names of companies and institutions who have been granted permission to fly drones has not been revealed, the type of work being undertaken includes aerial photography and filming, surveying of buildings and land, emergency services work, and surveillance in support of law enforcement, data collection, evidence gathering and security. The CAA has told Drone Wars UK that out of the 100 applications submitted between January 2010 and September 2011, 98 blanket permissions were issued.