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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCIA seeks new authority to expand Yemen drone campaign
The CIA is seeking authority to expand its covert drone campaign in Yemen by launching strikes against terrorism suspects even when it does not know the identities of those who could be killed, U.S. officials said.
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.
The practice has been a core element of the CIAs drone program in Pakistan for several years. CIA Director David H. Petraeus has requested permission to use the tactic against the al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, which has emerged as the most pressing terrorism threat to the United States, officials said.
If approved, the change would probably accelerate a campaign of U.S. airstrikes in Yemen that is already on a record pace, with at least eight attacks in the past four months.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-seeks-new-authority-to-expand-yemen-drone-campaign/2012/04/18/gIQAsaumRT_story.html
So, more drone strikes are needed to slaughter more innocent civilians and suspects without trials?
KansDem
(28,498 posts)...to do anything it wants to do?
If you believe that, I've got a palm tree in Wisconsin to sell you!
sinkingfeeling
(51,457 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)How does this not work out to a crime against humanity? No evidence necessary to send a missile into an inhabited area, just "intelligence" that "indicates" a "pattern" of "suspicious behavior." The Post helpfully provides two dubious examples: "militants" "gathering" at "known" al-Qaeda "compounds"; or unloading "explosives."
I suppose any of the defintions of words in quotes are highly classified, but really, the proles don't need to worry themselves about it.