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

[HaloMagic]

But is there another alternative besides sending-in Spec-Ops units that might turn into a "Lone Survivor"-type situation

Well, we could stop killing people and just leave them alone.

[Hollyw00d]

Well, we could stop killing people and just leave them alone.

there's no money in that.

make no mistake about it, the MIC has this country firmly in its grip and it will take nothing less than a coup or revolution of some sort to change things. Events were put in motion long ago to ensure their position of power and control. its truly a monster of mammoth size and scope

[Scott34]

To be fair, they probably already were or were going to become terrorists anyways.

 

Killing their brothers, sisters, moms and dads isn't helping.

[mtangelsfan]

Well, at least the next time they blow a bunch of innocent people up maybe a few more of us will have an inkling of why.

[Lhalo]

Any word on whether or not the cake was ok?

[LBHalos17]

Yeah, let's just wait for the next "9/11" to strike.  Slightly naive world-view there.

[mtangelsfan]

Yeah, let's just wait for the next "9/11" to strike.  Slightly naive world-view there.

 

Who is this post to, because I didn't see anyone post anything like that?

[HaloMagic]

Yeah, let's just wait for the next "9/11" to strike. Slightly naive world-view there.

You're right. Instead of waiting for the next "9/11" to strike we should be actively causing it and giving the motive.

[Kevin]

Don't get me wrong, the U.S. comes off looking real bad on this and it helps fuel the fire for their hatred for us. However I'm of the opinion that radical Islamic terrorists love when this shit happens. It gives them the excuse to do whatever they want to whomever they want. Anyone they feel is too westernized. The Bali bombings and more recent, the mall in Africa are good examples of that. Hell, the embassy bombings in '98 killed more Africans than Americans. Our support of Israel is a big contributing factor which shouldn't give them an excuse either.

In the end, the U.S. looks terrible and there will be consequences. Unfortunately, who knows who will ultimately pay the price when retaliation comes.

[TobiasFunke]

We were just making sure their children they were eventually going to have didn't grow up to be terrorists

[Stradling]

This is tragic, an accidental tragedy. What happened on 911, that was no accident. If I was named leader of the US I would focus my efforts on being non reliant on the middle east, then I would get out of that area of the world, for good. Let them live how they want to live, minus blowing up Israel, and we would live our lifestyle.

[arch stanton]

That's a quaint notion with no basis in reality. Too much money to be made. The reason oil is still king is because it's a controllable commodity that can be manipulated in supply to the tune of astronomical profit. How do you manage that with solar cells or lithium ion batteries? the fact that there is a ready made nemesis keeps the defense contractors humming along as well. Collateral damage is an accepted concept. That's why it's not called the easily avoidable killing of innocent women and children. 

 

Drone strikes are a relatively painless way to continue waging the "war" against terror without all the costly labor that is required to put troops in place. Now instead of giving perfectly good money to lowly foot soldiers they can give it to Lockheed and Northrup. The leadership of Al Qaeda and affiliates come from the same families here that line the pockets of our politicians and corporations. They're just toying with the groups instead of eliminating them because it's more profitable and it allows them to justify renewing the Patriot Act and the secret courts and spy programs. Short of an all out revolt at home this isn't stopping any time soon. 

[VariousCrap]

You're right. Instead of waiting for the next "9/11" to strike we should be actively causing it and giving the motive.

 

 

 

That is what we did for the first 9/11; so why stop now?

[VariousCrap]

This same kind of shit is what brought on 9/11.  

 

 

 

100% correct.

[yvangelfan]

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!

 

 

 

"Top Yemeni national security "official"" and CNN

 

Don't believe anything you hear and half of what you see.

[LBHalos17]

Well, we could stop killing people and just leave them alone.

Forgot how MT and some here pick-and-choose what they read.

We could just forget about our security, and let the jihadis continue to plot to fruition.  And, after the next 9/11 we'll just call it even and leave them alone, right?  I'm sure they'll honor that truce.

 

You're naive if you think that, and probably don't remember the first attempt on the World Trade Center.  We didn't go on the offensive and invade Afghanistan, yet they came back and attacked us again.

[Kevin]

I don't think 9/11 was caused by incidents like this. I know Bin Laden declared war on the U.S. due to the relationship we have with Israel and he was pissed about our troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. I know there were other things too.

Also Vladdy you say in this thread that this shit is the same type of stuff that caused 9/11. Haven't you stated that you're big into the 9/11 conspiracies and the U.S. trained the hijackers? Those two view points don't exactly mesh.

[VariousCrap]

There is no doubt the US relationship with Israel plays a roll in why 9/11 occurred, but that is not the only reason it occurred and it is not the only reason Osama declared war against the US.

 

The US has been manipulating and murdering people in the Middle East since the 1970's.  We have also bombed and occupied lands that are considered Holy to them.  Both of these issues played major rolls to the growth of terrorism in that region and it played a very important roll in the hatred that led to 9/11. 

Edited December 17, 2013 by Jim B

[Kevin]

I can agree with that. Having said that, I believe what I said still holds true. Islamic terrorists having targeted other countries and populations that don't have a very strong connection with our foreign policy. They love when this stuff happens. It gives them an excuse to lash out to those they feel are too westernized or a threat to their view of Islam. Then there are those that retaliate because of things like this. I can honestly say this situation wasn't done on purpose. I won't be able to say the same for those that want to retaliate against our innocent.

[HaloMagic]

Also Vladdy you say in this thread that this shit is the same type of stuff that caused 9/11. Haven't you stated that you're big into the 9/11 conspiracies and the U.S. trained the hijackers? Those two view points don't exactly mesh.

I think that it's really interesting that Kevin turned out to be Vladdy's daddy. Owned.

[mtangelsfan]

Nothing happens in a vacuum, nothing.  It is not logical to ascribe one cause to an incident.  To not believe that our constant presence and meddling in the middle east since the 40's and even more so since the 70's doesn't play into how they view us and the motives behind their acts of terror is naive at best.  To believe it is the only reason is also naive.

 

The same goes for our meddling, to ascribe one reason like "oil" or anything else is also so.

 

Suffice to say, this drone attack (or any other IMO) does nothing but make things worse for us overall.

[VariousCrap]

I can agree with that. Having said that, I believe what I said still holds true. Islamic terrorists having targeted other countries and populations that don't have a very strong connection with our foreign policy. They love when this stuff happens. It gives them an excuse to lash out to those they feel are too westernized or a threat to their view of Islam. Then there are those that retaliate because of things like this. I can honestly say this situation wasn't done on purpose. I won't be able to say the same for those that want to retaliate against our innocent.

 

 

 

It doesn't give them an excuse; it fuels their fire.  They already have all the reason in the world to want to attack the US and our interests.  In their minds (and rightfully so IMO) we have been at war with them for 40+ years.

 

Your "excuse to lash out to those they feel are too westernized or a threat to their view of Islam" is a George W. Bush style pile of shit generalization that only consists of part truths.

 

As for your "this situation wasn't done on purpose" statement, that is simply a horrible excuse.  The reality is the United States has zero rights to drone anybody.  In fact, it is illegal.  Even when the US drone attacks a "suspected terrorist" they kill innocent people who are in the area of the attack almost everytime.  Furthermore, the evidence we have against these "suspected terrorists" is so weak, if we arrested them, we couldn't even prove they were a terrorist in court.  The reality is, the vast majority of "suspected terrorists" we drone attack are not terrorists at all.

 

The United States has a terrible record of actually knowing who is a terrorist and who isn't.  For example, earlier this year, it came out that only 1% of terrorists caught by the FBI actually were terrorists. 

 

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/10/only_1_percent_of_terrorists_caught_by_fbi_are_real_partner/

 

 

Edited To Add:  More proof that the US doesn't know who is a terrorist and isn't is Gitmo.  The vast majority of people the US took to Gitmo turned out not to be terrorists, but now we are stuck with them because we tortured them and so on.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Jim B

[VariousCrap]

Nothing happens in a vacuum, nothing.  It is not logical to ascribe one cause to an incident.  To not believe that our constant presence and meddling in the middle east since the 40's and even more so since the 70's doesn't play into how they view us and the motives behind their acts of terror is naive at best.  To believe it is the only reason is also naive.

 

The same goes for our meddling, to ascribe one reason like "oil" or anything else is also so.

 

Suffice to say, this drone attack (or any other IMO) does nothing but make things worse for us overall.

 

 

 

I agree with pretty much 100% of what you wrote.  I would say what the US has done (war, occupation, etc) and supported (Israel) the Middle East for the last 40 years, are the major reasons for terrorism towards the US.  I would like to point out there are other countries that support Israel and they've never had a terrorist attack done towards them. 

 

So, what is the difference?  Things that make you go hmm...

[Kevin]

Jim I agree with you on most on most of what you said. I'm just saying there have been terrorist attacks against people who have nothing to with our foreign policy.I mentioned the Bali bombings, the recent mall attacks in Africa, and despite it being our embassy, the attacks in '98. The Bali attacks are, in my opinion of course, results of a hatred of westernized people. That's not a George Bush ideology. Although one could argue he took advantage of it.

Britain I believe is a supporter of Israel and has been attacked. Possibly more of a result of their presence in Iraq but you can't claim that no other supporter hasn't been attacked. One of the reasons is our support of Israel but not the only reason. As you and mt said, meddling in their affairs and so on.

Believe me, I'm not supporting this drone attack. I know it's illegal and has made matters worse and our government should be ashamed and admit it. I'm just saying it wasn't intentional to target innocent civilians. There goal is to. Believe me though, we are on the same page.

[arch stanton]

Of course they didn't target a wedding party but this "unfortunate" event is the inevitable result of selecting and attacking targets in a country with which we are not at war. We're bound to kill innocent people when that's who lives in the places we choose to target.