US, UK begin bombing Yemen

 

FILE PHOTO: British Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons fighter aircraft fly at RAF Coningsby on May 16, 2023 in Coningsby, England. © Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

The US and UK have begun carrying out strikes on Yemen in the early hours of Friday local time.

The action comes after Washington and London vowed to retaliate against attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthis have pledged support for Gaza during the ongoing fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. They have been launching drones and missiles at merchant vessels, as well as warships patrolling the vital waterway.

The US and the UK have launched an attack on Yemen, striking the cities of Sanaa and Hodeidah, Houthi spokesman Abdulsalam Jahaf said early on Friday.

US President Joe Biden said that the Western coalition has “successfully conducted strikes against a number of targets in Yemen used by Houthi rebels to endanger freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most vital waterways.”

“Today’s defensive action follows this extensive diplomatic campaign and Houthi rebels’ escalating attacks against commercial vessels,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. He added that the military action sends “a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation” in the region.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak released a statement in the early hours of Friday, saying that the Royal Air Force “has carried out targeted strikes against military facilities used by Houthi rebels in Yemen.”

The PM accused the Houthis of “destabilizing” commercial shipping in the Red Sea. “Their reckless actions are risking lives at sea and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Yemen,” Sunak said.

“This cannot stand,” he added, describing the strikes as “limited, necessary and proportionate action in self-defense.”

Houthi spokesman Abdulsalam Jahaf claimed that “a number of American and British warships have been hit” during “a major battle in the Red Sea.”

“Now America, Britain, and Israel are launching raids on Hodeidah, Sanaa, Dhamar, and Saada,” Jahaf said on X (formerly Twitter). “We will discipline them, God willing.”

“Whoever is involved, will pay the price,” he wrote on X. “We will not stop our attack until you leave the area.”

The strikes targeted “sites associated with the Houthis’ unmanned aerial vehicle, ballistic and cruise missile, and coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said. He added that the US reserved the right to “take follow-on actions” to protect its forces.

UK Secretary of Defense Grant Shapps announced that four Eurofighter Typhoon jets “conducted precision strikes on two Houthi military sites.”

Riyadh has called for “restraint” and urged to “avoid escalation.”

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is following with great concern the military operations taking place in the Red Sea and the raids on a number of sites in the Republic of Yemen,” the kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said in statement, as quoted by Al Jazeera.

Officially known as Ansar Allah (‘Supporters of God’), the Houthis declared solidarity with Gaza in late October, reacting to Israel’s offensive against the Palestinian enclave. They have since carried out over 20 attacks on various shipping vessels in the Red Sea, a major trade route connecting Europe and Asia via the Suez Canal. Major shipping companies have responded by rerouting their ships around Africa, driving up prices and insurance costs.

On Tuesday, the US Central Command announced that its ships and airplanes shot down more than 20 missiles and drones launched at vessels in the Red Sea.

“We cannot have a situation where a major sea route, a major ability to move goods around the world is being cut off by terrorists and thugs and we therefore must act,” British Defense Secretary Grant Schapps said after the incident.

Jahaf responded to threats from Washington and London by declaring on X that the Houthis will “respond to any American aggression,” and make the US “kneel and burn its battleships and all its bases and everyone who co-operates with it, no matter what the cost.”

“The world must prepare to hear America's defeat, and I say it with all pride: We will tread on America with our feet, and whoever does not know us, the battlefields will know about our strength and strength,” Jahaf had said.

Between 2015 and 2023, the Houthis had fought to a standstill a regional coalition led by Saudi Arabia that sought to restore the previous Yemeni government to power. The US had backed the Saudis with intelligence and military supplies.

US and British Troops sent to Yemen

Yemeni southern separatists inspect the site of UAE airstrikes near Aden, Yemen, August 30, 2019. (Photo by AP)

Source: Press TV

US, British troops in Aden, more to arrive in Yemen strategic areas: Reports

The Emirati-backed separatists in southern Yemen say hundreds of US and British forces have arrived in the port city of Aden as the first batch of a large military force that Washington and London seek to deploy to the Arab country’s resource-rich areas under the guise of fighting terrorism.

According to Fadi al-Murshidi, media official of the so-called Southern Transitional Council (STC), some 450 US and British soldiers arrived in Aden, al-Masa press reported.

Murshidi said that Washington and London — staunch backers of the Saudi regime’s war on Yemen — plan to deploy 3,000 troops in Aden, al-Anad base in Lahj province, Socotra Island in the Arabian Sea, Hadhramaut, Mahrah and Shabwah provinces, under the pretext of combating terrorism.

Local media reported that a US force consisted of 110 soldiers reinforced by 10 Black Hawk aircraft, 30 Harvey armored vehicles, four Patriot air defense systems and an integrated field operations room had reached the coast of Balhaf in the oil-producing Shabwa province.

Two US warships docked at Balhaf, Yemen’s main liquefied natural gas (LNG) export port, according to southern local media.

Military experts say Washington's intensified moves in Yemen’s southern provinces are aimed at preparing for a possible military intervention and establishment of military bases in the country.

Some analysts say the moves indicate Washington’s intention to plunder the country’s oil resources.

The presence of US forces in Yemen comes as Washington has begun withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and apparently plans to transfer them to another territory rich in natural resources.

Both the UAE-backed separatists and the militants loyal to the former Saudi-allied Yemeni government serve the Riyadh-led coalition, which has been engaged, since 2015, in a bloody military campaign against Yemen aimed at reinstating ex-president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who resigned in 2014 and later fled to the Saudi capital.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have purchased billions of dollars’ worth of weapons from the United States, France and the United Kingdom in the war on Yemen.

Despite all the firm support from the West, the Saudi regime and its coalition allies have achieved none of the long-drawn-out war’s objectives thanks to stiff resistance by Yemen’s armed forces — led by the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The reported American and British deployment comes as Yemen’s armed forces — led by the Houthi Ansarullah movement — have been making more gains against pro-Saudi militants on several fronts.

Angered by the gains, the Saudi-led coalition has stepped up its airstrikes against civilian targets in different area of Yemen.

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Yemeni security official shot dead at US embassy

 

Yemeni riot policemen stand guard before the protesters during a demonstration on a road leading to the US embassy in Sanaa on September 21, 2012

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/11/266085/yemeni-security-official-shot-dead/

A Yemeni security official has been shot dead while on the way to the US embassy in the capital Sana'a, an official says.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Qassem Aqlan on Thursday while he was driving along the capital’s Sittin avenue, the official also said.

The assailants managed to escape the scene of the attack. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the deadly incident.

Meanwhile, a US diplomat said that Aqlan was coordinating a Yemeni and US investigation of an attack on the US embassy in Sana’s by anti-US demonstrators angry over a blasphemous anti-Islam film produced in the United States.

Yemenis staged several demonstrations outside the US embassy in Sana’a and other cities across the country to voice their outrage over the film that insults Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Yemeni security forces clashed with protesters many times, firing warning shots and using water cannons to prevent angry protesters from approaching the embassy building.

Washington deployed over 100 Marines from the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team (FAST) to Yemen to help protect its embassy during anti-American protests.

Yemeni police open fire as hundreds storm the US embassy in Sanaa, casualties reported

 

Yemeni police fire warning shots as protesters storm US embassy in Sanaa (Image from Twitter/@FelixNewsAgency)

Source: Russia Today

http://rt.com/news/yemen-police-protesters-embassy-020/

Yemeni police reportedly fired at hundreds of demonstrators storming the US embassy in the capital city of Sanaa. The embassy personnel are currently being taken to a secure location, the Yemen Times reported.

The demonstrators allegedly breached the embassy grounds but were unable to enter the building.

The embassy denied reports that protesters had entered its offices, saying that the clashes took place at the perimeter of the embassy grounds.

Muslims have taken to the streets across the Middle East in protest against a US amateur film satirizing the Prophet Muhammad. US embassies around the world have responded to the unrest by tightening security measures.

On Wednesday, the US ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staffers died when militia members attacked the Benghazi consulate.

Egyptian demonstrators also clashed with police near the US embassy in Cairo.

In a bid to stem the violence, Afghanistan and Pakistan have blocked access to YouTube to prevent the incendiary film from being viewed.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Killing Pakistanis by US drone attacks violates human rights: Pillay

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/06/07/245041/us-killing-of-pakistanis-is-illegal-un/

A senior United Nations human rights official says the killing of civilians in non-UN-sanctioned airstrikes by the US assassination drones in Pakistan is illegal and in violation of human rights.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay made the remarks on Thursday at the end of a four-day visit to Pakistan, where more than 150 people have died in twenty US drone attacks since the beginning of the year.

“Drone attacks do raise serious questions about compliance with international law,” she added.

The commissioner noted that in her opinion “the indiscriminate killings and injuries of civilians in any circumstances” was in violation of international norms of human rights.

Pillay also called for a UN investigation into civilian casualties, which she said were difficult to track.

“I suggested to the government that they invite the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Summary or Arbitrary Executions and he will be able to investigate some of the incidents,” she said.

Washington claims its drone strikes target militants, though casualty figures clearly indicate that Pakistani civilians are the main victims of the non-UN-sanctioned attacks.

On Tuesday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the US Charge d'affaires Richard Hoagland over Washington’s continued drone attacks saying they violate Pakistan sovereignty.

However, the US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says Washington would continue its drone attacks in the country despite complaints from Islamabad.

Puppet Regimes and Fake Democracy: Syria, Yemen, and America’s Quest for Imperial Dominance

By: Eric Draitser
Source: Global Research
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31046

At the G8 summit last week, President Obama and other officials in his administration, began utilizing the talking point of Yemen being a model to be emulated in Syria. Ostensibly, they were referring to the “peaceful” transition of power in Yemen as an example of what they would like to see in Syria. However, the comparison goes much deeper than simply this superficial connection. The truth is that Yemen represents, in more ways than one, the blueprint that the US imperialist ruling class would like to see applied to the escalating conflict in Syria.

Puppet Regimes and Faux Democracy

The “transition” of power in Yemen, from Saleh to Hadi, is a prime example of the hypocrisy of US policy, touting it as a victory for democracy while concealing the obvious fact that it was the creation of a puppet regime. Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has been presented as the legitimate leader of Yemen, despite the fact that he was the U.S. choice to govern that country. His legitimacy depended on the myth of a democratically elected regime; the US propagates this myth wantonly, pretending that people won’t remember that Hadi ran unopposed in February.

If the purpose of democracy is to create forms of governance accountable to the citizenry and to establish a government that is truly representative of the people’s desires, then it would be an outright lie to call the Hadi administration anything close to a democracy. In fact, as recent developments in Yemen have shown, his regime is nothing more than a puppet government, put in power by the United States in order to allow the CIA and other shadowy entities free reign to use drones, Special Forces, and other covert operations in what is supposedly a sovereign nation.

Not only is Hadi, the former vice President under Saleh, not democratically elected, he is the antithesis of progress in a country that was on the front lines of the Arab Spring. The people who marched through the streets of Sanaa and other cities across Yemen did so with the intention of effecting change in a country which, in the eyes of many, was seen as a backwards dictatorship. However, despite all the rhetoric about hope, change, and progress from the US State Department and the White House, President Obama and his minions, including John Brennan (counter-terrorism advisor and frequent representative of Obama in Yemen), immediately lent their support to Hadi. The betrayal came as no surprise to any informed observer as the United States was only interested in its own strategic interests in the region.

US Tactics and the Geopolitical Imperative in Yemen

US interest in Yemen is certainly not rooted in altruism or a desire to promote democratic ideals. On the contrary, it is the application of a long-standing geopolitical strategy to control international trade through the Mandab Strait and Suez Canal, access to African raw materials, and most specifically, block the expansion of Chinese economic influence in both the Middle East and Africa. For these reasons, the United States has a keen interest in both Yemen and Somalia, desperate to maintain chaos in those countries so as to prevent stable, nationalist leaders from emerging. In so doing, Washington once again shows itself to be an imperialist aggressor, interested only in maintaining and expanding the empire.

The tactics of this strategy are myriad. First and foremost, the US, in accordance with long-standing policy dating back to the Carter administration, uses the red herring of “Islamic extremism” and terrorism, to justify any actions it deems necessary for the advancement of its own agenda. In places like Afghanistan and Yemen, the enemy is Al-Qaeda which must be fought with US military might, while in Libya and Syria, Al-Qaeda is an ally fighting against the oppressive regimes of Gaddafi and Assad. This duplicity should come as no surprise since Washington’s foreign policy is based on expanding US hegemony rather than promoting any ideals.

The second aspect of America’s imperialist strategy is the fomenting of ethnic, tribal, and other sectarian conflicts. In doing so, Washington is able to prevent the emergence of any form of nationalism that, by definition, would stand in opposition to US imperialism. One must simply look across the Mandab Strait for an example of this strategy: Somalia. A nation of strategic and geographical importance, Somalia has been effectively destroyed by US policy over the last twenty years, having been transformed from a proud nation to a loose collection of tribal groups dominated by repugnant warlords with no regard for national identity.

In Yemen, we’ve seen this strategy employed vis-à-vis the Huthi rebellion, the propagandistic use of tribal groups as proxies of Saudi Arabia, Iran, or whomever the US wants to demonize, and countless other examples of these sorts of divisive tactics. In this way, the imperialists are able to keep Yemen fragmented, using it as a pawn on the geopolitical chessboard.

A Connection Between Yemen and Syria?

With all this talk about Yemen, the question might be, “So, what’s this got to do with Syria?” The answer to this question can be found in an analysis of the social movements of the two countries. In Syria, just as in Yemen, there is a real, pro-democracy opposition that took to the streets in hopes of forcing reforms. Both movements began with high-minded ideals and sought to end what they perceived to be the outdated rule of dictatorial leaders. However, unlike Yemen, Syria has been under assault by West-sponsored, foreign mercenary terrorists who have usurped the title of “opposition”, thereby making the real opposition into a mere irrelevancy on the international stage. The United States and its proxies in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, and elsewhere are responsible for this reprehensible turn of events.

And so, when the Obama administration claims that the Yemeni model is the best course of action in Syria, what they mean is that their tactics of subversion through terrorism are simply a means to an end. Just as in Yemen, the United States seeks to topple Assad and install a puppet government, one that would be comfortable under the thumb of the imperialist ruling class. The US has no interest in protecting the rights of the ethnic and religious minorities or the real opposition (namely the National Coordinating Committee and the Popular front) in Syria, just as they had little interest in furthering the democratic aspirations of the people of Yemen. Rather, Obama and those who control him, seek regime change in Syria in order to use that nation as a geopolitical chess piece against Iran, Russia and any other nation unfortunate enough to be deemed an “enemy” of the United States.

Find more Articles by Eric Draitser at:
http://www.stopimperialism.com/

Obama Administration approves broader Yemen drone strikes

The file photo of a US assassination drone

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/238263.html

US President Barack Obama has approved a new policy which allows the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to expand its covert drone campaign in Yemen.

According to US officials, Obama has approved the use of "signature strikes", which will allow the CIA to launch strikes against terrorism suspects even when it does not know the identities of those who could be killed.

The move comes as the number of US assassination drone strikes in Yemen has already hit a record.

Critics of drone campaign believe that more innocent people will be killed if US strikes are expanded in Yemen.

US assassination drone strikes killed at least 64 people, mainly civilians, in southern Yemen over a period of only three days in March.

The CIA has been flying drones in Yemen since 2011 from a secret base in the country.

Last year, two American citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki and his teenage son, were also killed in US drone attacks in Yemen. Their deaths sparked strong criticism against Obama administration’s targeted killings of civilians across the world, including American citizens without any judicial procedures.

Leading academic Professor Noam Chomsky has also condemned US policy of targeting terror suspects in foreign countries using unmanned aerial vehicles, saying the tactic amounts to ''state terror''.

The US military uses assassination drones in several Muslim countries, including Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan.

Washington claims the airstrikes target militants, but the attacks have mostly led to civilian casualties.

CIA wants more drone strikes in Yemen

An unarmed U.S. "Shadow" drone is launched in this undated photograph (Reuters/AAI Corporation/Handout)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/usa/news/cia-drone-yemen-us-495/

After the United States defended last year’s assassination of American citizens abroad with “signature strikes” carried out by its controversial drone program, the CIA is now asking Washington to expand its power to conduct those kills in Yemen.

If allowed, it could be a major blow to al-Qaeda operatives working in the state of Yemen. It could also, however, serve as a catalyst for distrust of the United States.

Anti-American sentiments have only increased since the US expanded its overseas drone program. While these signature strikes have indeed been successful to a degree in bringing alleged terrorists to their death, opponents of the program have been put off by how the kills are carried out. In the Washington Post’s report on the plea from the Central Intelligence Agency, they acknowledge that leading US officials are aware that the program relies on limited intelligence to conduct the strikes — and carries out the kills “even when [they] do not know the identities of who could be killed.”

“[T]here is still a very firm emphasis on being surgical and targeting only those who have a direct interest in attacking the United States,” a senior Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, tells the Post.

By using the “signature strikes” carried out by America’s arsenal of unmanned, robotic drone aircraft, the United States’ military and intelligence community has executed persons alleged to have ties with al-Qaeda, an organization considered a terrorist group by the US and others. A massive backlash against similar strikes in Pakistan have all but forced America’s fair-weather ally to condemn the country’s drone attacks there, but now the CIA is asking for the ability to continue those kills in neighboring Yemen with fewer loopholes and less restrictions on the controversial strikes.

According to a report published this week by the Washington Post, top-officials within the CIA have gone on the record to say that the agency is asking for authority to expand the campaign in Yemen, where the US believes yet more al-Qaeda members are operating from. Last year the US conducted a strike in Yemen, executing American citizens Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan in the process.

How they US determined the validity and severity of those threats are largely up for debate. It took six months for US Attorney General Eric Holder to offer an explanation for the execution of al-Awlaki, and further facts about the top-secret strikes are not expected to be released anytime soon. Nonetheless, the country’s top spy agency is asking for the ability to carry out those kills more often than already allowed.

When Holder finally did offer the administration’s reasoning for the assassination of al-Awlaki, the attorney general said America is faced with “a nimble and determined enemy that cannot be underestimated” and that the continuation of the drone program was necessary.

“Our legal authority is not limited to the battlefields in Afghanistan,” explained Holder. He added, however, that “it is entirely lawful” to target leaders of terrorist groups.

“The Supreme Court has made clear that the Due Process Clause does not impose one-size-fits-all requirements, but instead mandates procedural safeguards that depend on specific circumstances. In cases arising under the Due Process Clause – including in a case involving a U.S. citizen captured in the conflict against al Qaeda – the Court has applied a balancing approach, weighing the private interest that will be affected against the interest the government is trying to protect, and the burdens the government would face in providing additional process. Where national security operations are at stake, due process takes into account the realities of combat,” said Holder.

Earlier in the year, President Obama defended the killings as well, saying, "For us to be able to get them in another way would involve probably a lot more intrusive military action than the ones we're already engaging in.”

The president added that it’s "important for everybody to understand that this thing is kept on a very tight leash,” although the UK’s Bureau of Investigative Journalism argues that since America began drone strikes, at least 385 civilians have been executed in US-led attacks

US assassination drone strikes kill 64 in Yemen in 3 days

The file photo of a US assassination drone

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/231237.html

US assassination drone strikes have killed at least 64 people in southern Yemen during attacks in the past three days on the provinces of Abyan and Bayda.

Yemeni government officials claimed that the airstrikes in the Bayda province and the town of Jaar in the Abyan province during March 9 to 11 targeted “militants.”

However, local residents rejected the government’s allegations and said the victims were civilians.

Yemeni security officials said at least five US assassination drones were involved in the latest strike in Jaar on Sunday, which claimed the lives of six people.

According to Yemeni officials, the assassination drones also conducted major attacks on Friday and Saturday, killing at least 58 people.

The US military uses drones in Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen.

The latest US airstrikes in Yemen were conducted days after longtime Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh formally stepped down and handed power over to President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi on February 27.

The new Yemeni president, who is a UK-trained field marshal, was sworn in on February 25 following a single-candidate presidential election on February 21, which was supported by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

US: Turning war-fear into warfare

U.S. Military Academy cadets wave a flag in the stands prior to the 112th Army-Navy football game in Landover, Maryland. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/news/america-warfare-militarized-society-251/

Ever since its creation, the US has had a role to play in combat operations worldwide. Today the country’s public opinion is dominated by warfare, making American society all-too-easily manipulated and turned against practically any country.

The US has a strong record of persuading the public that war is the only way.

A military industrial complex worth billions of dollars is largely America’s driving force. Deeply rooted in the system, it would serve no purpose if there was no one to fight.

“If there were no more enemies left, there would be a loss of a sense of mission,” anti-war activist and journalist Don Bebar told RT.

Serving Americans are on permanent stand-by to deploy to battle zones on command.

“The US army flag has 183 campaign ribbons on it. Those 183 ribbons each represent wars,” Iraq war veteran Matthis Chiroux from New York shared with RT.

“When you compare that to the 236 years that we’ve actually been around as a country, you’re talking about a war on average of once every year and three months,” he calculated.

As a consequence of the American bellicosity in general, Matthis Chiroux is now soothing his nerves in company with 170,000 American soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

The US always has a bone to pick with one enemy after another. For nearly half a century it was the Soviet Union.

“The communist threat was the most useful enemy. Where legitimate, and where completely fantastical, it was always available as a global conspiracy against which to justify anything,” Roots Action campaigner David Swanson told RT.

With the Cold War declared over, the list keeps expanding to smaller antagonists.

So it was with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 1991, when then President George H. W. Bush Sr. announced that “Allied forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait.”

Or with the former Yugoslavia, to which former President Bill Clinton signed a sentence in 1999 by announcing that the American Air Force was conducting “Air strikes against Serbian forces.”

Then it was ex-President George W. Bush, who was let off the leash after 9/11 terror attacks and announced a global War on Terror symbolized by Al-Qaeda. He started by invading Afghanistan in 2001 and continued with the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In 2003, the US Air Force was “Striking selective targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein’s ability to wage war,” announced George W. Bush, meaning that waging wars is an exclusive privilege of the chosen mighty ones.

Ultimately, it has been current President Barack Obama, who was elected on promises to end wars, but now looks forward to military conflict with Iran after lending a hand in toppling the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. As in previous cases, last spring he made a characteristic “We hit Gaddafi’s air defenses” statement on the American TV.

With a defense budget that surpasses the military expenditure of all other countries combined, no other nation drums up war as consistently as America.

“While people are still responding and recovering from the violence that’s been committed in one place, or even in the same place, we’re launching new operations and more atrocities in different parts of the world,” acknowledged war correspondent Keith Harmon Snow.

So Fox News cannot but reiterate that Iran is the biggest threat, Syria is a minor threat, Russia is a traditional threat and China is an emerging threat.

That makes America's top brass state that a strike on Tehran is in the planning stages.

It also makes the US President Obama latest quest for diplomacy with Iran over its nuclear program look derisive in the face of a pending military confrontation.

Year in, year out, Americans are convinced that the US has to remain on the defensive.

“We’re petrified of death by terrorism. Shoot, I think a lot of Americans wish we’d spend more money on war,” veteran Matthis Chiroux confessed.

Finding the next target is never difficult.

Campaigner David Swanson says “We are inventing the nation of Iran as an enemy, as a threat to the United States, as a possessor of nuclear weapons it does not possess, a nation that has not attacked another in literally centuries, and has no capability or desire to attack ours.”

RT's Anastasia Churkina asked people on the streets of New York “Which country is the US going to be in a war with next?”

The most common answer she got was “Iran.”

The US has been picking and choosing which countries to intervene in for centuries. As the list of nations the US loves to hate expands, the concept that no war at all is also an option seems to have been forgotten.

US terror drones kill 35 in Yemen, Pakistan

A US Predator drone firing a Hellfire missile (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230868.html

Thirty-five people have been killed in the latest non-UN-sanctioned US assassination drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan.

On Friday, US drones fired several missiles targeting areas in Yemen's southeastern province of al-Bayda, killing 20 people, while 15 people were killed in attacks in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a local security official said that the number of casualties announced in the Jabra area of Yemen’s al-Bayda governorate was based on an initial security report from the targeted area.

The official added that more than two US drones were still striking several areas in three villages outside al-Bayda city.

In Pakistan, at least 15 people were killed and three were injured in the Shaktoi area of South Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan.

Some sources said missiles fired from the US aircraft landed on a vehicle, while others said they targeted a house.

Dozens of people have lost their lives in CIA-operated assassination drone attacks in Pakistan since the beginning of 2012.

Washington claims that its airstrikes target militants crossing the Afghanistan border, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the non-UN-sanctioned strikes.

Pakistanis have held many demonstrations to condemn the United States’ violations of their national sovereignty.

Yemenis hold demo, demand dismissal of Saleh loyalists

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/229986.html

Yemenis have staged massive protest rallies across the country, demanding the expulsion of the deposed dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh’s loyalists from the Army, Press TV reports.

The huge demonstrations were held in the capital Sana’a and southern cities of Taizz and Ibb on Sunday.

Members of the military joined the protest rallies, calling on the new President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to purge the military of the associates of Saleh's regime.

The protesters also condemned the government's decision to cut salaries of the military personnel.

Last week, Saleh formally stepped down following months of anti-regime protests in the country, and was replaced by Hadi, his vice president, in a single-candidate election backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Hadi was sworn in following the election on February 21, which pundits described as a mockery of democracy.

Yemenis have been protesting against the United States and Saudi Arabia since then, blaming them for keeping the former regime remnants in power.

Many powerful military units still remain under the control of Saleh's relatives.

Yemeni people have also been calling for the prosecution of the former ruler and his aides over the killing of protesters in a deadly crackdown against popular anti-regime protests that emerged early in 2011.

Yemeni soldiers want corrupted military chiefs out

Yemeni air force soldiers demand the ouster of corrupted military chiefs during a protest rally in Sana’a, March 1, 2012.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/229487.html

Yemeni soldiers have staged protests in the capital, Sana’a, demanding the departure of the country’s military chiefs whom they accuse of corruption, Press TV reports.

The soldiers took to the streets of Sana’a on Thursday to call for the ouster of Brigadier General Hussein Khairan and Air Force Commander Mohammed Saleh al-Ahmar-- a half brother of former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Meanwhile, people held demonstrations in the southern cities of Taizz and al-Bayda, demanding the immediate restructuring of the army and the ouster of Saleh's relatives from power.

The protesters also chanted slogans against the United States and Saudi Arabia and blamed them for keeping the former regime remnants in power.

Washington and Riyadh pushed for a deal that transferred power from Ali Abdullah Saleh to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansur al-Hadi, in a US and Saudi-backed single-candidate election.

The deal also granted immunity from prosecution to Saleh and his close affiliates.

Yemeni people have been calling for the prosecution of the former ruler and his aides over the killing of protesters in a deadly crackdown against popular anti-regime protests that erupted in early 2011.

Dozens killed in car bomb attack in Yemen

Scene of an explosion in Yemen (file photo).

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/228564.html

As Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi the winner of the country's single-candidate presidential vote takes office, a bomb attack in southern Yemen has killed at least 32 people.

The causalities come after a car bomb exploded outside the presidential palace in al-Mukalla located in Hadramawt Province, where Hadi was sworn in on Saturday.

Members of the elite Republican Guard are thought to be among the dead.

Al-Qaeda has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

The violence comes hours after the new president replaced Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was forced to resign after months of protest against his rule.

Hadi, Saleh’s ex-deputy, was the single candidate in the presidential vote that took place on Tuesday, which was described by pundits as a mockery of democracy. He will lead Yemen for a two-year interim period.

Saleh, who returned home from a “medical visit” to the United States late on Friday, is set to formally hand over power to Hadi in a ceremony at the presidential palace on Monday.

Hadi pledged to continue the fight against al-Qaeda, which he called a "national and religious duty" in a live broadcast speech on television. "If we don't restore security, the only outcome will be chaos," he said.

Meanwhile, people took to the streets in the city of Taizz once again to renew their demand for a free Yemen and the prosecution of the 69-year-old Saleh and his aides.

In the southern Yemeni port city of Aden regime forces reportedly used live bullets against protesters.

Saleh's deputy takes oath of office after sham election

Yemen's new President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi arrives to take the oath of office during a ceremony at the parliament, Sana’a, February 25, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/228516.html

The former deputy of Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh has been sworn in as the country’s new president after winning a US-backed one-man vote.

Saleh’s ex-deputy Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi was the single candidate in the presidential vote that took place on Tuesday, which was described by pundits as a mockery of democracy. He will lead Yemen for a two-year interim period.

"It is a patriotic and religious duty to continue the battle against Al-Qaeda," claimed the new Yemeni president.

"If we don't restore security, the only outcome will be chaos," Hadi said.

Saleh, who returned home from a “medical visit” to the United States late on Friday, is set to formally hand over power to Hadi in a ceremony at the presidential palace on Monday.

Saleh traveled to New York in late January allegedly to receive treatment for wounds sustained in an attack on his palace last year. The Yemeni people have slammed the US government for sheltering a man whom they blame for the deaths of a large number of protesters since a revolution began in January 2011.

The protesters now want the prosecution of the 69-year-old Saleh and his aides over the regime's deadly crackdown on peaceful demonstrators during the past year.

Polls open in Yemen with sole US-backed pres. candidate

Members of the Yemeni election committee prepare ballot boxes on the eve of Yemen’s presidential election at a polling station, Sana’a, February 20, 2012

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/227790.html

Voting has begun in Yemen’s presidential election with only one candidate on the ballot amid the opposition’s call for the downfall of the entire regime.

The polls opened Tuesday, with 12 million eligible voters, and the sole candidate Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The election is to put an end to Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule and formally transfer power to his assistant, Hadi.

However, the country’s major opposition groups, including the Southern Movement and the Southern Shia group have boycotted the election, demanding the removal of the regime that abounds with Saleh-era officials.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has thrown Washington’s weight behind Yemen’s election, offering his support to Hadi.

In a letter to the Yemeni vice president, Obama said Yemen could be an example of the peaceful transition of power in the Middle East.

This is while demonstrations are expected to continue in Yemen as protesters say their revolution will not end until Saleh and all corrupt government officials are put behind bars.

On Monday, several polling stations were the target of bomb attacks prior to the beginning of the polls in the southern province of Aden and the southern port city of al-Makla, with no reports of casualties. The protesters also blocked roads leading to five villages in Daleh province, making it impossible for poll organizers to send ballot boxes there.

Saleh is currently in the US for medical treatment. He left Yemen in mid-January, shortly after the country’s parliament passed a law which grants him full immunity from prosecution.

'US, safe haven for world dictators'

Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Salehi (shown) left Yemen to travel to the US on January 22, 2012, amid a growing popular uprising in the Middle Eastern country.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222596.html

An American political activist has lashed out at Washington for accepting Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh, saying the US has long been a safe haven for authoritarian rulers across the world, Press TV reports.

“I think it is wrong for the US government to accept Saleh coming from Yemen, as the people of Yemen should be the ones to determine his future,” Medea Benjamin, co-founder of both CODEPINK and the international human rights organization Global Exchange, told Press TV on Sunday.

“The US unfortunately has a history of taking in dictators from other countries, which goes against the principles that people who commit crime should be held in judgment through legal processes by the constituency of their own country and this should be the case for Yemen,” she added.

“The US has been supporting Saleh dictatorship both with weapons and with other logistical kinds of support," the activist pointed out.

Benjamin also criticized the US officials for attaching more importance to their so-called war on terror than the democratic rights of the Yemeni people.

Saleh left Yemen's capital, Sana'a, on Sunday and will visit Oman en route to the US.

In a televised farewell speech on Sunday, Saleh said, “I will go to the United States for treatment and will then return as the head of the General People's Congress party,” Yemeni state media reported.

On Saturday, Yemen's parliament approved a law that grants complete immunity from prosecution to Saleh for the crimes committed during his 33-year-long rule.

Yemeni anti-regime protesters reject the immunity law and say that Saleh and his aides must face prosecution for the killing of hundreds of demonstrators during the popular uprising that began in January 2011.

'Saleh leaves Yemen for US'

File photo of Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222499.html

Yemeni dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh has left the capital, Sana'a, for the United States to receive medical treatment, an official says.

The official from Saleh's office said the Yemeni dictator left the capital on Sunday but did not specify Saleh's destination.

This comes while authorities in Sana'a said on Sunday that Saleh's son, who runs the Republican Guard, was “already in Oman” to prepare for his father's visit to the Arab country en route to the United States.

In a farewell speech earlier on Sunday, Saleh said, “I will go to the United States for treatment and will then return as the head of the General People's Congress (GPC) party,” Yemeni state media reported.

Last week, a senior official of Saleh's GPC party said Saleh will visit “Oman and then Ethiopia before travelling to New York for [the] treatment” of the wounds he sustained in an attack on the presidential palace in June 2011.

Saleh's departure from Sana'a comes one day after Yemen's parliament approved a law that grants complete immunity from prosecution to the dictator for the crimes committed during his 33-year-long rule.

The immunity law is part of a power transfer deal brokered by the (Persian) Gulf Cooperation Council and supported by the United States. The legislation gives immunity to Saleh's aides only on “politically motivated” criminal acts and not on corruption charges.

“I ask for forgiveness from all my people, men and women, for any shortcomings during my 33-year-long rule,” Saleh said during his speech on Sunday.

However, Yemeni anti-regime protesters reject the immunity law and say that Saleh and his aides must face prosecution for the killing of hundreds of demonstrators during the popular uprising that began in January 2011.

The Yemeni parliament has also adopted a law that approves Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi as the “consensus candidate” in the upcoming presidential election of February 21.