Yemen

(By Alice K. Ross) The CIA director and other intelligence chiefs were urged to increase transparency over covert drone operations by members of the House intelligence committee yesterday. Adam Schiff, a Democratic Party congressman, called on CIA director John Brennan, to support an annual report detailing the number of alleged militants and civilians killed each […]

Drones

Death toll of Obama’s Drone Campaign 5 Years Later: 2,400

contributors

(By Jack Serle) Obama has launched over 390 covert drone strikes in his first five years in office Five years ago, on January 23 2009, a CIA drone flattened a house in Pakistan’s tribal regions. It was the third day of Barack Obama’s presidency, and this was the new commander-in-chief’s first covert drone strike. Initial […]

Africa

The Year in Drone Strikes: As Many as 35 Civilians Dead, 5 Children

contributors

(By Alice K Ross and Jack Serle) In 2013 the number of drone strikes to hit Pakistan fell to the lowest levels of Obama’s presidency: 27 strikes reportedly hit the country’s tribal areas, down from a peak of 128 in 2010. And for the first time since Pakistan strikes started in 2004, there were no […]

Climate Change

Locusts & Climate Change Plague Yemen on top of al-Qaeda, Drones, Huthis (Video of the Day)

Juan Cole

Yemen has suffered flash floods and unusual amounts of rainfall recently. These phenomena are not new, but they may be increasing because of climate change, which increases water vapor in the atmosphere. Locusts flourish in wetter top soil. Yemen is an agricultural society and much of the population is food insecure to begin with. Climate […]

Drones

How many American Weddings would have to get hit by Drones before they were Banned?

contributors

(By Tom Engelhardt) The headline — “Bride and Boom!” — was spectacular, if you think killing people in distant lands is a blast and a half. Of course, you have to imagine that smirk line in giant black letters with a monstrous exclamation point covering most of the bottom third of the front page of […]

Drones

US Drones Kill 15 in Yemen Wedding Convoy, mistaking them for al-Qaeda

Juan Cole

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 […]