Mar 27, 2015

Rachel Maddow On The Emergence Of Yemen As A Warzone (Did Our Government Intentionally Destabilize Yemen?)

Background:




Saudi Arabia strikes Iran-backed rebels in Yemen - Rachel Maddow reports on the recent context that brought Yemen to civil war, leading up to breaking news of Saudi Arabia conducting airstrikes in support of the government of Yemen against Iran-backed rebels.


Is an indiscriminate war ever a good idea?

Petraeus and the signature of U.S. terrorThe CIA pressures Obama to step up indiscriminate attacks in Yemen 


Our strategy in Yemen may have been fine for Republican Generals steeped in the Southern Strategy & thus willing to kill with abandon, like they did in Iraq... but would the American people have supported killing kids on small chances or proximity to brown people the Military deems targets (the Military group is only as good as it's commander, Abu Gharaib proves this)



A quick look at the types of illegal and covert wars that our Government has been involved in (which may have in turn created the problem of Yemen)...

1. Lt. Col. Daniel DavisCommanders Sending False Impressions of Afghan War: - Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis recently criticized top military brass, including retired Gen. David Petraeus, saying they have misled Congress and the American people about progress in the war in Afghanistan. Margaret Warner speaks with Davis about his whistleblowing, why he went public and what his future may hold in the military.

2. Confessions of an Iraq War WhistleblowerThe State Department fired me for telling the truth about US failures in Iraq. Here's why I don't regret it. What I saw while serving the State Department at a forward operating base in Iraq was, however, different. There, the space between what we were doing (the eye-watering waste and mismanagement) and what we were saying (the endless claims of success and progress) was filled with numb soldiers and devastated Iraqis, not scaredy-cat bureaucrats. That was too much for even a well-seasoned cubicle warrior like me to ignore, and so I wrote a book about it, We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the War for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People. I was on the spot to see it all happen, leading two Provincial Reconstruction Teams in rural Iraq while taking part up close and personal in what the US government was doing to, not for, Iraqis. Originally, I imagined that my book's subtitle would be "Lessons for Afghanistan," since I was hoping the same mistakes would not be endlessly repeated there. Sometimes being right doesn't solve a damn thing.


3. Petraeus and the signature of U.S. terrorThe CIA pressures Obama to step up indiscriminate attacks in Yemen 


4. From PBS: Timeline | The Decade-Long Covert War Against Iran







Now all the indiscriminate killing we did in Yemen has destabilized the country to such a point that it's falling apart. 

Interestingly enough, on the world stageAmerica IS the GOP.

Learn more about the wars the American people are not aware of & the fact that GOP has been targeting Iran for a long time (Ron Paul even talked about in the 2012 Republican primary and was covered up for his reluctance to have war with Iran as the pre-chosen selection to get Fox News coverage);

Prompt US withdrawal from Afghanistan increasingly unlikely Rachel Maddow reports on the visit by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to the U.S. to thank U.S. service members and taxpayers for the war effort, and shows how distorting the timetable for a U.S. draw-down makes actual withdrawal less likely to happen. 



FLASHBACK;

October 17, 2011

Extract from here:

The United States should be encouraging non-violence in Yemen, respect for human rights and the rule of law. Instead, we have engaged in lawless violence, denying our own citizens fundamental due process.

Recent escalation in 2011...






In detail;


Killing Awlaki was illegal, immoral and dangerous

Extrajudicial killing of terrorists suspects, however, is no more efficacious, lawful or moral than torture. President Obama campaigned against the use of torture, the “global war on terror” and the senseless war in Iraq. He promised to restore America’s standing in the world. He spoke of the importance of adhering to the rule of law and our values in facing the challenge of terrorism and other problems.

In 2001, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, stated on Israeli television the U.S. position regarding Israeli targeted killing of suspected terrorists: “The United States government is very clearly on the record as against targeted assassinations. They are extrajudicial killings, and we do not support that.”

How could we? Killing in war is justifiable morally and legally because of the extraordinary situation of real hostilities. In the limited zones on the planet where two or more contending armed groups fight for territorial control, people are on notice of the danger. In such zones, the necessity to kill without warning is understood. Still, even in combat, there are rules. Civilians may not be directly targeted; principles of necessity and humanity restrain.

Where no such intense armed fighting is occurring, killing is only justified to save a human life immediately. Peacetime human rights and criminal law prevail. The actual facts of fighting determine which rules govern killing. The president has no override authority.

Nor should he want it. These rules apply globally. The U.S. should not weaken them, providing a basis for Russia, Iran, China or Pakistan to declare war against opponents, killing them anywhere with missiles and bombs.

And what about within the U.S.? If the president can target suspects in Yemen, why not here? And why just the president? Why can’t governors order missile strikes on suspected terrorists and other criminals?

The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki and several persons with him on Friday in Yemen did not occur in a battle zone. The killings occurred in a country in the midst of upheaval with various armed and unarmed factions struggling for control. The United States should be encouraging non-violence in Yemen, respect for human rights and the rule of law. Instead, we have engaged in lawless violence, denying our own citizens fundamental due process.


Related?

GOP's War On Colored People OR The Case To Categorize The GOP As A Hate Group



No comments:

Post a Comment