Yet another US drone strike hit Yemen today, this time in the northern al-Jawf Province dominated by Shi’ite tribesmen affiliated with the Houthi secessionist movement. The strike killed five people, termed “al-Qaeda suspects.”
It was the fourth drone strike against Yemen in as many days, with an attack targeting near the capital city on Monday, and a pair of weekend strikes hitting the area around Ma’arib City in the Ma’arib Province.
Strikes against Yemen escalated dramatically in 2012, and the large number of strikes so far in January suggest this will continue to be a growing target for US drones going forward. Yemen’s President has loudly endorsed the attacks, though other members of the cabinet have termed the civilian deaths caused as unacceptable.
The US seems to be treating the strikes in Yemen much the same as their attacks in Pakistan, refusing to confirm or deny any of their attacks except on those rare occasions when they actually kill someone they have a name for. The rest of the time, the victims are simply labeled suspects and the story simply vanishes.
To claim that the drone targeted "Al-Qaeda" among Shiia population of Yemen shows the hight of disregard for US public, and indeed world opinion. Al-Qaeda is a Sunni movement, initially organized by US intelligence with Saudi money and organizational/leadership support. Wahhabi/Salafi strain of Sunnis hates Shiia religion, and are usefull idiots in any divide and conquer games. Bin Laden was a Sunni fundamantalist, as are his Saudi Wahhabis and Salafi fundamentalists around the world. Salafis, now supported with petro-dollars, are destroying hundreds of years of islamic tradition in its path. For this, Saudi Arabia and US are both responsible. Salafis are becoming agents of destruction whereever they go, as they do not believe in national governments, just one center of power, Wahhabi Mecca. What is going on here is an attempt to create Vatican of moslem world, to undermine all authority. While it may be very tempting to US efforts to destabilize regions, and then intervene on "humanitarian" grounds, the suffering that this brings, as well as the instability to world peace, is without a precedent in history. We may rue a day our imperial arrogance thought this was funny.