Holding the US to account for civilian drone deaths in Yemen

[morningfog]

When news flashed of an airstrike on two cars in the city of Radaa on Sunday afternoon, early claims that ‘al Qaeda militants’ had died soon gave way to a more grisly reality. At least 11 civilians had been killed, among them women and three children. It was the worst loss of civilian life in Yemen’s brutal internal war since May 2012. Somebody had messed up badly. But who was responsible – the United States or Yemen?

Local officials and eyewitnesses were clear enough. The Radaa attack was the work of a US drone, a common enough event since the start of the Arab Spring. From May 2011, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has recorded up to 116 US drone strikes in Yemen, part of a broader covert war aimed at crushing Islamist militants. But of those attacks, only 39 have been confirmed by officials as the work of the United States.

The attribution of dozens of further possible drone attacks – and others reportedly involving US ships and conventional aircraft – remain unclear. Both the CIA and Pentagon are fighting dirty wars in Yemen, each with a separate arsenal and kill list. Little wonder that hundreds of deaths – among them up to 57 civilians – remain in a limbo of accountability.

‘Decrepit’ air force
With anger rising at the death of civilians in Radaa, Yemen’s government stepped forward to take the blame. It claimed that its own air force had carried out the strike on moving vehicles after ‘faulty intelligence.’ Yet the Yemen Air Force is barely fit for purpose, its decrepit fleet of mainly Soviet-era aircraft incapable of precision bombing.

http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/09/07/holding-the-us-to-account-for-civilian-drone-deaths-in-yemen/

[former-republican]

1. Not sure what you're are getting at

You want President Obama charged for a crime?
I apologize in advance If I'm misinterpreting the intention of your post.

[morningfog]

2. It is sad when civilians are killed and we as the killer don't even acknowledge them.

Accountability would mean we take responsibility for our actions and our mistakes. Especially when it results in killing civilians. Oversight and public discussion and debate would be a start.

[former-republican]

3. agree it is sad

but when the President authorizes a strike like this ( if he did )
Every precaution is usually taken to minimize collateral damage.

Sometimes sadly it happens.

[morningfog]

4. The President doesn't authorize each and every strike.

It depends on whether it is a strike targeting a specific individual or a particular behavior. The real problem is that the strikes, the orders and the standards are not debated in public. No one know what precautions are actually taken, because there is no actual discussion of the strikes.

The Obama Administration has refused and stonewalled on releasing their legal justifications on targeted strikes. We don't know what their rationale or precautions are.

[former-republican]

5. Of course it's not each and every

drone strike but in Yemen it would need Presidential approval.
Just as it did when our drones started targeting the taliban in Pakistan.

[morningfog]

7. That is not accurate.

If it a target of an individual, the President has to sign off. If it is a signature strike, he doesn't have to.

And no, giving the legal justification would not divulge dangerous information. We just need to know the basis and have some form of oversight.

[former-republican]

10. I think I didn't make my self clear

To begin drone strikes in Yemen it had to be to be authorized by the President before the very first one occurred.

Whether it was a strike to target an individual or a signature strike.

[former-republican]

6. As to the legal justifications

That's a tough one because you are asking the President to release evidence on we knew the targets were involved
in terrorism.

Many times it's through informants , C.I.A classified documents.

[morningfog]

8. You say "many times" but you don't know.

In fact, the majority of the strikes target individuals who the CIA doesn't know and never even identify.

[former-republican]

9. You're right I don't know but

I'm pretty sure it's not random strikes. The people targeted are through our intelligence or Yemen's and ours combined.

It's much easier for Yemen's intelligence to get undercover informants that can infiltrate the terror network there.
As to them being identified , probably some are low level terrorists in the network. Some are foreign fighters that have joined there same as some of the taliban killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan . We don't identify them either. For lack of a better term they are foot soldiers.

I hope you're not getting the wrong idea that I am defending the collateral damage
and civilian deaths that are occurring.

It's that I can understand it when it happens .