Kevin Hayden – TruthisTreason.net
Source: 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 [...] 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.
Hayden’s Note:
The CIA’s program of “targeted” drone killings in Pakistan’s tribal heartlands is politically counterproductive, kills large numbers of civilians, and undermines respect for international law, according to a report by US academics.
“The dominant narrative about the use of drones in Pakistan is of a surgically precise and effective tool that makes the US safer by enabling ‘targeted killings’ of terrorists, with minimal downsides or collateral impacts. This narrative is false,” the report, entitled Living Under Drones, states.
It is clear to see that our use of drones increases militant recruitment, as well as fueling hatred towards our Nation. This is precisely what Ron Paul, as well as many top military and defense personnel, have warned about as “blow back.” Our continual drone use in sovereign nations undermine everything that we claim to stand for: freedom, liberty, pursuit of happiness, freedom to gather, protest, and to be free of tyranny – especially a foreign tyrant.
Time after time, United States drones kill large groups of innocent men, women, and children while they attend weddings and funerals.
“An entire region is being terrorized by the constant threat of death from the skies. Their way of life is collapsing: kids are too terrified to go to school, adults are afraid to attend weddings, funerals, business meetings, or anything that involves gathering in groups.”
“George Bush wanted to create a global ‘war on terror’ without borders, but it has taken Obama’s drone war to achieve his dream.” – The Guardian
While officials claim that drone use is surgical and targets only the top al-Qaeda terrorists, one can not help but ask why we provide these very same “terrorists” with weapons, logistics, communications, aerial support, and money when they are operating in select theaters, such as Libya and Syria…but not in Pakistan and Yemen.
Here is a list of some notable “drone strikes” -
April 22, 2011
U.S. officials claim “no evidence to support … claim [of civilian deaths in the Apr 22 strike].”
All major media sources refer to civilian deaths:
• NYT reports that a government official in North Waziristan told Pakistani reporters that 5 children and 4 women were killed.
• WSJ reports “at least three women were among the dead.”
• CNN reports Pakistani official stating 8 civilians were killed.
• AP reports neighbor stating 3 children and 2 women killed.
March 17, 2011
Anonymous U.S. official: “There’s no question the Pakistani and U.S. governments have different views on the outcome of [the March 17 jirga] strike. The fact is that a large group of heavily armed men, some of whom were clearly connected to Al Qaeda and all of whom acted in a manner consistent with A.Q.-linked militants, were killed.”
New York Times, referring to findings by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: “Although 11 Taliban fighters were reported killed, between 19 and 30 civilians also died, including tribal elders and local police officers.”
…as well as,
Twelve and Sixteen Year Old Targeted & Killed After Attending Drone Strike Hearing
Ten Parliamentarian Campaigners Killed in Drone Strike, September 2010
47 Killed in Wedding Airstrike, Including the Bride
Science Teacher & Nephew Killed in Hellfire Attack on Their Taxicab