US drone base set for Persian Gulf region

[The Northerner]

WASHINGTON: The United States is building a secret CIA air base in the Persian Gulf region to target terrorists in Yemen, preparing for the possibility that an anti-American faction may take over Yemen and ban US forces from hunting a lethal al Qaeda faction there, The Associated Press has learned.

The anti-al Qaeda effort in Yemen is being run by the Joint Special Operations Command, the top US military counterterrorism outfit, and the CIA provides intelligence support. JSOC forces have been allowed by the Yemeni government to conduct limited strikes there since 2009 and have recently allowed expanded strikes by US armed drones and even war planes against al Qaeda targets who are taking advantage of civil unrest to grab power and territory in the Gulf country.

The new CIA base provides a backstop, if al Qaeda or other anti-American rebel forces gain control, one senior US official explained. The White House has already increased the numbers of CIA officers in Yemen, in anticipation of that possibility. And it has stepped up the schedule to construct the base, from a two-year timetable to a rushed eight months.

The Associated Press has withheld the exact location at the request of US officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because portions of the military and CIA missions in Yemen are classified.

Read more: http://www.dawn.com/2011/06/15/us-drone-base-set-for-persian-gulf-region.html

[polly7]

1. It's mind-boggling to me that they're setting up these killing bases

pretty much anywhere they like. Makes me sick, actually.