tagged w/ US Covert Operations
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U.S. military officials and documents have revealed that the top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of covert military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region.U.S. military officials and documents have revealed that the top American commander in... more
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America's leading human rights organization says that President Obama is falling far short of his rhetoric by continuing some of the abuses of George W. Bush's war on terror and by shielding foreign allies responsible for an assault on human rights activists have not seen since the end of the Cold War.America's leading human rights organization says that President Obama is falling... more
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Salon.com’s Glen Greenwald has drawn attention to an article in the Washington Post which reports that U.S. military teams and intelligence agencies are deeply involved in secret joint operations with Yemeni troops who in the past six weeks have killed scores of people.
Greenwald points out that buried in the Post story is the revelation that American citizens are now being placed on a secret hit list of people whom the president has personally authorized to be killed.Salon.com’s Glen Greenwald has drawn attention to an article in the Washington... more
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Al Jazeera reports that at least four people have been killed and several more injured in a suspected US drone attack on a house in Pakistan. Senior US officials are now pushing to expand CIA drone strikes beyond Pakistan's tribal region and into the city of Quetta, which is a major city of 850,000 people.Al Jazeera reports that at least four people have been killed and several more injured... more
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The London Guardian reports that US Special Forces have conducted multiple clandestine raids into Pakistan's tribal areas as part of a secret war in the border region. Such operations are a matter of sensitivity in Pakistan. Any hint of American boots on the ground is greeted with virulent condemnation there.The London Guardian reports that US Special Forces have conducted multiple clandestine... more
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Since 2004, the Pentagon has used broad, secret authority to carry out about 12 attacks against al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, The New York Times reported on its Web site on Sunday.
Quoting what it said were more than six unnamed military and intelligence officials and senior Bush administration policy makers, the newspaper said the military operations were authorized by a classified order signed by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the approval of President George W. Bush.
Under the order, the military had new authority to strike the al Qaeda network anywhere in the world and a broader mandate to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States, according to the Times.
Despite the order, each mission required high-level government approval, the Times reported.
The order identified 15 to 20 countries, including Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states, where Qaeda militants were believed to be operating or to have sought sanctuary, a senior administration official told the newspaper.
A former top CIA official told the newspaper that one of the operations included the raid of a suspected militant compound in the Bajuar region of Pakistan. The Times said its sources refused to provide details about the other previously undisclosed attacks, except to say they had been carried out in Syria, Pakistan and other countries.
The newspaper said officials made clear there had been no raids into Iran using that authority, but they suggested that American forces had carried out reconnaissance missions in Iran using other classified directives.
Senior military officials told the paper as many as a dozen additional missions were scrapped because senior administration officials decided they were too dangerous, diplomatically problematic or relied on insufficient evidence.
When contacted by the Times, spokesmen for the White House, the Defense Department and the military declined comment.Since 2004, the Pentagon has used broad, secret authority to carry out about 12... more
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Are we still the ugly American? explores US covert operations in the Middle East over the past fifty years trying to understand why anti-Americanism is on the rise. Directors Marco Aguilar and Cheyenne Quintanar journey through Western Europe, Canada and parts within the US to get perspectives on the current Bush administration, the war in Iraq, and US foreign policy.
Will the United States' selfish interests propel us into world war III, or will the people in the US rise up and take their country back?Are we still the ugly American? explores US covert operations in the Middle East over... more
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The U.S. embassy in Kyrgyzstan has found itself embroiled in scandal after the country’s interior ministry announced that a hoard of U.S.-made weapons has been found in a house in Bishkek rented by U.S. citizens. The embassy hurriedly stated that the weapons were intended for antiterrorism exercises, but Kyrgyz enforcement agencies have not confirmed that. The news is the talk of Kyrgyzstan. The prosecutor general has begun an investigation.
Local police found 53 firearms, including large-caliber guns, grenade launchers, machineguns, pistols, sniper’s rifles and more than 15,000 rounds of ammunition of various sizes. According to Kyrgyz Deputy Minister of the Interior Temirkan Subanov, there were two employees of the U.S. embassy with diplomatic immunity and ten members of the American military, allegedly in the country to train Kyrgyz special forces. “Interior Ministry staff questioned them about the weapons and ammunition to determine their purpose. We received information from residents of a new house that they were constantly moving things into and out of that house. None of the U.S. citizens were detained or arrested. All of them were simply questioned,” Subanov said.
The U.S. embassy quickly issued a statement saying that the cache was in the country with the permission and at the request of Kyrgyz authorities. The Kyrgyz Defense Ministry, State Committee for National Security, border service and national guard say that they have no training with Americans planned. Only the narcotics control agency had such plans, but they did not include weapons. Kyrgyz officials are not commenting on the situation. Observers are both pointing out reasons to be alarmed at the incident and reasoning that the United States has little motivation to create a provocation in Kyrgyzstan.The U.S. embassy in Kyrgyzstan has found itself embroiled in scandal after the... more
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The New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh on CNN. "If that doesn't make people nervous, I don't know what would."The New Yorker’s Seymour Hersh on CNN. "If that doesn't make people... more
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added this
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3 years ago
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