June 8, 2011
The New York Times

U.S. Is Intensifying a Secret Campaign of Yemen Airstrikes

by Mark Mazzetti

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has intensified the American covert war in Yemen, exploiting a growing power vacuum in the country to strike at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets, according to American officials.

The acceleration of the American campaign in recent weeks comes amid a violent conflict in Yemen that has left the government in Sana, a United States ally, struggling to cling to power. Yemeni troops that had been battling militants linked to Al Qaeda in the south have been pulled back to the capital, and American officials see the strikes as one of the few options to keep the militants from consolidating power. . . .

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"Yemen: New Frontier in US 'War on Terror'," The Wisdom Fund, December 22, 2009

Karen DeYoung and Greg Jaffe, "U.S. 'Secret War' Expands Globally," Washington Post, June 4, 2010

"Protests Spread to Bahrain, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen," The Wisdom Fund, February 17, 2011

John Pilger, "Behind the Arab Revolt Lurks a Word We Dare Not Speak," New Statesman, February 24, 2011

Ernesto Londono and Sudarsan Raghavan, "Yemeni crowds celebrate after president transfers power, flies to Saudi Arabia," Washington Post, June 4, 2011

Richard Spencer, "Yemen defector says terror crisis was manufactured to win western support," Telegraph, June 11, 2011

Kimberly Dozier, "Secret drone base set for Persian Gulf," Seattle Times, June 14, 2011

[The new tasking for the agency marks a major escalation of the clandestine American war in Yemen, as well as a substantial expansion of the CIA's drone war.--Greg Miller, "CIA to operate drones over Yemen," washingtonpost.com, June 14, 2011]

[Contrary to false denials, the U.S., under the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been bombing Yemen for the last two years, including one attack using cluster bombs that killed dozens of civilians.--Glenn Greenwald, "Yet another illegal war -- now in Yemen," salon.com, June 14, 2011]

Glenn Greenwald, "The War on Terror, now starring Yemen and Somalia," salon.com, July 18, 2011

Karen DeYoung, "Yemen president Saleh to step down; Bahrain acknowledges use of torture, excessive force," washingtonpost.com, November 23, 2011

November 25, 2011

Sudarsan Raghavan, "Yemeni president hands over power, but little changes," washingtonpost.com, December 3, 2011

MSNBC, February 17, 2012

John Glaser, "Yemenis Elect New US Puppet in Sham Single-Candidate Election," antiwar.com, February 21, 2012

Eric Schmitt, "U.S. Teaming With New Yemen Government on Strategy to Combat Al Qaeda," nytimes.com, February 26, 2012

Al Jazeera, March 1, 2012

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[Securing permission to use these "signature strikes" would allow the agency to hit targets based solely on intelligence indicating patterns of suspicious behavior, such as imagery showing militants gathering at known al-Qaeda compounds or unloading explosives.--Greg Miller, "CIA seeks new authority to expand Yemen drone campaign," washingtonpost.com, April 19, 2012]

Sudarsan Raghavan, "In Yemen, U.S. airstrikes breed anger, and sympathy for al-Qaeda," washingtonpost.com, May 29, 2012

"Time running out for solution to Yemen's water crisis: Sana'a risks becoming first capital in world to run out of viable water supply as Yemen's streams and natural aquifers run dry," guardian.co.uk, August 27, 2012

Noah Shachtman, "29 Dead in 8 Days as U.S. Puts Yemen Drone War in Overdrive," wired.com, September 5, 2012

John Glaser, "The Laws Obama is Breaking in His Relentless Drone War," independent.co.uk, September 10, 2012

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"Secret US drone base in Saudi Arabia revealed," bbc.co.uk, February 6, 2013

Cora Currier, "How Does the U.S. Mark Unidentified Men in Pakistan and Yemen as Drone Targets," propublica.org, March 1, 2013

Alex Kane, "Dirty Wars, Filthy Hands: 5 Unsavory Ways America Conducts Its Global War on Terror," alternet.org, May 10, 2013

Lauren Feeney, "What It's Like to Be Terrified by Drones," billmoyers.com, April 24, 2013

Howard LaFranchi, "Yemen drone strike and US evacuation: Signs of drone war intensification?," csmonitor.com, August 6, 2013

[Yemeni President . . . Hadi was installed into power with the help of the US government after a 2011 coup against its longtime ruler, President Saleh. It is in his interest to have the US behind him, as his popularity is very low in Yemen and he faces the constant threat of another coup.--Ron Paul, "Why Are We at War in Yemen?," antiwar.com, August 12, 2013]