Yemen

CIA operators of US drones in Yemen mistook a wedding convoy for al-Qaeda on Friday, killing 15 persons and wounding many others. Some 10 were killed immediately and 5 more died from their wounds. Al-Quds al-`Arabi, a London-based daily, talked to a member of the wedding party, who said that it is impossible that the […]

Arab World

Five Women Human Rights Activists who are Changing the Middle East

Juan Cole

By Tasnim Nazeer Despite setbacks in the wake of the “Arab Spring”, the region’s female activists gained strength following the uprisings and have no plans to stop fighting for better and fairer societies. Here is a rundown of five of the most prominent female human rights activists in MENA. 1. Tawakkol Karman The first Yemeni […]

Afghanistan

Interview with Jeremy Scahill Questions “War on Terror”

Juan Cole

Euronews asks Jeremy Scahill about his new film, “Dirty Wars,” which has been nominated for an Academy Award. Scahill was also recently interviewed at Democracy Now! “AMY GOODMAN: Jeremy, this report that just came out from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism that more people have been killed in drone strikes in the six months after […]

Drones

Rights Groups: Some US Drone Strikes are War Crimes (Oldroyd)

Juan Cole

Rachel Oldroyd writes at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Leading human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have raised serious concerns about the legality of drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen. The two organisations have conducted separate investigations into specific strikes to highlight how civilians are being killed. Such killings, they claim, are […]

Drones

In Shadow of Syria Strike: August US Drone Strikes in Yemen highest in 16 Months (Searle)

Juan Cole

Jack Searle writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism One strike in Pakistan ends 34-day stretch without an attack. Yemen sees more strikes in a month than any time since March 2012. Yemen A terror alert centred on Yemen gripped the US in August leading to six confirmed drone strikes. The US closed 21 diplomatic […]

Drones

How Much Blood Money does the US Pay to Families of Innocent Drone Victims? It’s Classified (Currier)

Juan Cole

Cora Currier writes at Propublica: There have been nine drone strikes reported in Yemen in the past two weeks – an uptick apparently connected to the Al Qaeda threat that shut down U.S. embassies across the Middle East and Africa. As many as six civilian deaths have also been reported. President Obama has promised increased […]

Domestic Surveillance

Top Ten Things that don’t Make Sense about NSA Surveillance, Drones and al-Qaeda

Juan Cole

In a Reuters Exclusive, John Shiffman and Kristina Cooke reveal that the National Security Agency shares information it gleans from warrantless surveillance of Americans with the Special Operation Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency, which then uses the metadata to develop cases against US citizens. The DEA then routinely lies to the judge and defense […]

Afghanistan

Top Ten Ways Bradley Manning Changed the World

Juan Cole

Bradley Manning will be sentenced today, having been found guilty of 20 counts on Tuesday, including espionage (despite the lack of evidence for intent to spy and the lack of evidence that his leaking ever did any real harm). Whatever one thinks of Manning’s actions, that we deserved to know some of what he revealed […]

Afghanistan

Obama: US will Continue its Targeted Killing with Drones (Woods)

Juan Cole

Chris Woods writes at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism Barack Obama has made it clear that the US will continue with its controversial targeted killing programme. In a major speech the US president also announced that he has signed into force a new – and secret – rule book for lethal action that provides ‘clear […]