Air-launched cruise missile

Is the United States engaged in an unacknowledged (but hardly secret) war in Yemen?

Since 2001, the U.S. and its allies and proxies (e.g. Israel) have attacked Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Somalia and the Gaza Strip. U.S. Army Special Forces have also been involved in an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf rebels on the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines. That makes Yemen the ninth country where our forces or close allies have killed Muslims in recent years. Inevitably, many of these people have been noncombatants, women and children.

On December 17, President Obama ordered two cruise missile strikes on a suspected al-Qaeda training site in northern Yemen and a reported gathering of al-Qaeda leaders in Abyan Province in southern Yemen. The Yemeni military also conducted three ground assaults, killing an estimated 120 people.

On Christmas Eve, either the U.S. or the Yemeni air force launched air strikes on targets in Shabwa Province, killing the now-standard “30 suspected militants” that practically every air strike kills.

Sifting through news reports, all we know for sure is that anonymous U.S. government sources are doing their very best to make propaganda out of whatever it is we’re doing in Yemen. For the first set of strikes, one target was described as a location where “an imminent attack against a U.S. asset was being planned.” It was leaked that the attack was intended to kill “the presumed leader of al Qaeda in Yemen, Qaaim al-Raymi,” although it turned out he was not among the dead.

In the Christmas Eve attacks, anonymous U.S. government officials said that the target was the home of Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born radical cleric. Al-Awlaki reportedly corresponded by e-mail with Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5. A day later, reports from Yemen indicated that Al-Awlaki was alive and well. There was also a claim that Nasir al Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and his deputy Said al Shihri may have been killed. Wuhayshi is thought to have survived.

Glenn Greenwald (emphasis added):

Each time the U.S. bombs a new location in the Muslim world, the same pattern emerges. First, officials from the U.S. or allied governments run to their favorite media outlet to claim — anonymously — that some big, bad, notorious, “top” Al Qaeda leader “may have been” or “likely was” killed in the strike, and this constitutes a “stinging” or “devastating” blow against the Terrorist group. These compliant media outlets then sensationalistically trumpet that claim as the dominant theme of their “reporting” on the attack, drowning out every other issue.

As a result, and by design, there is never any debate or discussion over the propriety or wisdom of these strikes. …Having the story shaped this way also ensures that there is virtually no attention paid to the resulting civilian casualties (i.e., the slaughter of innocent people); most Americans, especially journalists, have been trained to ignore such deaths as nothing more than justifiable “collateral damage,” especially when a murderous, top Al Qaeda fighter was killed by the bombs.

…Yet over and over and over, it turns out that these anonymous government assertions — trumpeted by our mindless media — are completely false. The Big Bad Guy allegedly killed in the strike ends up nowhere near the bombs and missiles.

UPDATE: Tonight’s ABC News broadcast described Yemen as (1) “a breeding ground for terrorism,” (2) “a hornets’ nest,” and (3) “a largely lawless country.” Did ABC’s alleged journalists interview anyone who has ever set foot in Yemen? No, with one exception. They did interview Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who said: “Iraq was yesterday’s war. Afghanistan is today’s war. If we don’t act preemptively, Yemen will be tomorrow’s war.” Lieberman visited Sana’a last August (probably the only time he’s been there).

Given that there are 308 million people in the USA and only 23 million in Yemen, I’d bet more terrorists live in our country than in Yemen. Just saying.

UPDATE: “Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula” has claimed the failed underpants bomber was acting in retaliation for U.S. strikes on Yemeni soil. Whether true or not, the claim of responsibility is clearly intended to provoke more American attacks on Yemen. Of course, the commentators on CNN totally miss that obvious point.

UPDATE: New York Times headlines Yemen as “a Qaeda bastion,” and hints at recently expanded covert CIA and special operations forces activities there.

See the continuation of this post for a timeline of violent events in Yemen.


Here’s a timeline of violence in Yemen since 2000:

January 3, 2000 – Members of al-Qaeda attempted an attack on the guided missile destroyer U.S.S. The Sullivans while in port at Aden, as a part of the 2000 millennium attack plots. The plan was to load a boat full of explosives and explode it near the ship. However the boat was so overladen that it sank, forcing the attack to be abandoned.

October 12, 2000 – The destroyer U.S.S. Cole was attacked by two al-Qaeda suicide bombers in Aden harbor, killing 17 U.S. sailors and severely damaging the ship. The method was the same as the aborted plot in January. By May 2008, all defendants convicted in the attack had escaped from prison or been freed by Yemeni officials.

November 3, 2002 – The CIA fired a AGM-114 Hellfire missile from a Predator UAV at a vehicle carrying Abu Ali al-Harithi, a suspected planner of the U.S.S. Cole bombing plot. Also in the vehicle was Ahmed Hijazi, a U.S. citizen. Both were killed. This operation was carried out on Yemeni soil, although the UAV was probably based in Djibouti.

September 17, 2008 – The fortress-like U.S. embassy in Sana’a, Yemen is hit by a coordinated assault attributed to al-Qaeda. Attackers used two vehicle bombs and small arms, killing six Yemeni security officers, including an embassy guard, along with four civilians. Six of the assailants also died. It was the most serious of five attacks on the embassy since 2000.

August, 2009 – The Yemeni army launches a fresh offensive against the five-year-old Houthi Shiite rebellion in the northern province of Sa’dah.

October, 2009 – Border clashes broke out between the Houthi rebels and Saudi security forces. The rebels accused Saudi Arabia of supporting the Yemeni government in attacks against them.

November 5, 2009 – Saudi Arabia launched an air and ground offensive in the north against the Yemeni rebels.

December 14, 2009 – Houthi rebel leaders claim U.S. involvement in 28 air raids.

December 17, 2009 – On orders from President Barack Obama, the U.S. military launched cruise missiles against two suspected al-Qaeda sites in Yemen. Along with the two U.S. cruise missile attacks, Yemen security forces carried out raids in three separate locations. As many as 120 people were killed, according to reports from Yemen. Non-government sources said many of the dead were innocent civilians.

December 24, 2009 – Yemeni or possibly U.S. air strikes hit targets in Shabwa Province.

December 26, 2009- News media report that the accused underpants bomber, Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, told the FBI he was trained for more than a month in Yemen and supplied with 80 grams of the explosive PETN , sewn into his underpants.