U.S. drone strike kills 14 in wedding convoy in Yemen, according to Yemeni security officials

[jshep]

Sanaa, Yemen (CNN) -- A U.S. drone mistakenly targeted a wedding convoy in Yemen's al-Baitha province after intelligence reports identified the vehicles as carrying al Qaeda militants, two Yemeni national security officials told CNN on Thursday.

The officials said that 14 people were killed and 22 others injured, nine in critical condition. The vehicles were traveling near the town of Radda when they were attacked.

"This was a tragic mistake and comes at a very critical time. None of the killed was a wanted suspect by the Yemeni government," said a top Yemeni national security official who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to talk to media.

U.S. officials declined to comment on the report.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/12/world/meast/yemen-u-s-drone-wedding/

 

Well this is just wonderful news!

 

[arch stanton]

We should wait for more confirmation but it was always bound to happen. 

[HaloCory22]

Tragic. America at its finest right there. Shoot first ask questions later.

[Jay]

Will the U.S. apologize or are we too arrogant?

[Adam]

If there is anyone gathered here today...

 

 

BOOM!!!!!!!!! 

[Jay]

speak now or forever hold your...

 

Edited December 13, 2013 by Jay

[HaloCory22]

Guess the US objected. 

[Blarg]

Will the U.S. apologize or are we too arrogant?

Obama will offer the survivors an option of health plans they can afford.

[Jay]

Obama will offer the survivors an option of health plans they can afford.

 

Or maybe Obama will offer to take a selfie with the survivors.

[Blarg]

Or maybe Obama will offer to take a selfie with the survivors at the funerals.

fixed

[Taylor]

If this is true, utterly despicable. 

[Adam]

I don't think there is a bigger luck of the draw type deal than being born White in America. 

[Lhalo]

So is this drone pilot a "hero" when he walks through the airport with his uniform on?

[Jay]

I don't think there is a bigger luck of the draw type deal than being born White in America. 

 

I'm not complaining

[HaloFan85]

So is this drone pilot a "hero" when he walks through the airport with his uniform on?

If you ask the government, the answer would be yes.  Earlier this year, the government was on the verge of creating a medal for drone pilots that would've outranked the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.  Of course they eventually had to cancel those plans due to an extreme backlash from Veterans.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/us-usa-pentagon-medal-idUSBRE93E12V20130415

[Lhalo]

If you ask the government, the answer would be yes.  Earlier this year, the government was on the verge of creating a medal for drone pilots that would've outranked the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.  Of course they eventually had to cancel those plans due to an extreme backlash from Veterans.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/us-usa-pentagon-medal-idUSBRE93E12V20130415

 

SMH

[mancini79]

Maybe the wedding couple ordered tons of fireworks from Amazon.com.

[Scott34]

I hate drones.

[Taylor]

If you ask the government, the answer would be yes.  Earlier this year, the government was on the verge of creating a medal for drone pilots that would've outranked the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.  Of course they eventually had to cancel those plans due to an extreme backlash from Veterans.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/15/us-usa-pentagon-medal-idUSBRE93E12V20130415

 

From the comments on that article, someone posted this on April 15. Weird coincidence.

 

Hey, these people are under great stress because they can’t sit there with their Big Slurpy because that may spill into the drone gizmo and short the thing and cause a wedding party to be wiped out.''

[TennAngelsFan]

I just really have a lot of trouble having people in conditioned rooms sitting in Barcalounger seats pullin the trigger on human beings.  As I get older I'm having lot more trouble understanding a lot of the wars we are in. We are creating more terrorists than we an imagine in backlash.

[arch stanton]

It's the bigger issue of the policy in general. The more common and acceptable something like this becomes, the lower the decision making gets pushed until you have a big circle jerk of plausible deniability. I really think it should be accessible public knowledge who chooses the targets and who approves the targets. Is there a Curtis LeMay loose in the Pentagon? Have they decided that we are fighting "a people"?

[Scott34]

I just really have a lot of trouble having people in conditioned rooms sitting in Barcalounger seats pullin the trigger on human beings.  As I get older I'm having lot more trouble understanding a lot of the wars we are in. We are creating more terrorists than we an imagine in backlash.

 

This is what I struggle with.  Even on the most basic tactical level, drones aren't working long-term because we are creating more enemies than we are wiping out.

[Hollyw00d]

god bless america

[Hollyw00d]

only a matter of time til the LAPD gets a hold of these

[LBHalos17]

I'm not a fan of the drone/missle program, and this is a horrible example of why.  But is there another alternative besides sending-in Spec-Ops units that might turn into a "Lone Survivor"-type situation?

 

I'd prefer the boots on the ground/surgical assault, to the collateral damage that always comes with a drone-strike that actually hits the target.  I don't think there is a shortage in the pipeline of jihadis anyway, but these incidents certainly don't help our cause against terror.