US Strike in Yemen

[CaptainHaplo]

US airstrike inside a soveriegn nation that we are not at war with. Yemen claims the US had nothing to do with it...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/18/launched-missile-strikes-al-qaeda-yemen-sources-say/

And just so no one claims I am being biased - here is an ABC source...

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cruise-missiles-strike-yemen/story?id=9375236

I happen to hear it on the ABC world news which was on the tv. CNN doesnt even have it showing, nor did it make the main page of ABC. Fox has it as "breaking news"....

Not claiming anything in particular - but I do find it odd that CNN makes the front page about a non-binding agreement to reduce co2 emissions by "some unknown amount" more important that a military strke against a sovereign nation.....

[Skybird]

Striking Al Quaeda and terrorist cells I have learned to have little problem with over the past years. In this case the strike did not target a sovereign nation - at least as long as Al Quaeda and said sovereign nation isn't one and the same - in which case I would not care for that word "sovereign" in "sovereign nation" but rate it as an openly "hostile" nation (sovereign or not)

Just as a principal reply. Haven't heared of this story so far. Need to learn more, and the specific details.

[Tribesman]

Whats new? It isn't the first strike in Yemen and it won't be the last.
The deal is that the US operates out of French bases not Yemeni ones, publicly distances itself from the operations and keeps it quiet.

So ......
US airstrike inside a soveriegn nation that we are not at war with.
You are not at war with the nation because you are working with the nation.
And....
Yemen claims the US had nothing to do with it...

its the willing but wanting it kept quiet coilition.

I do find it odd that CNN makes the front page about a non-binding agreement to reduce co2 emissions by "some unknown amount" more important that a military strke against a sovereign nation.....
Maybe thats because it isn't a strike against a sovereign nation and perhaps CNN remember that the operations there which have been going on since the attack on the USS Cole are supposed to be kept quite quiet by both countries and shouldn't be front page news.

[CaptainHaplo]

I actually am very pleased with the President for the action itself - and I agree - hit em wherever they are.

However, when he calls the Yemeni "president" to congratulate him on his efforts against AQ - trying to make it appear that it was the Yemeni Air Force (as was initially reported in the region) makes it look like he doesn't have the cahones to stand and say it was the US that did it.

[Snestorm]

Not claiming anything in particular - but I do find it odd that CNN makes the front page about a non-binding agreement to reduce co2 emissions by "some unknown amount" more important that a military strke against a sovereign nation.....

That's because our attention is supposed to be diverted by the summit, from the more immediate and crucial things that politicians have screwed up, like the ecomomy, and job losses. If We can manage to stay focussed on these issues, They have a problem.

[Onkel Neal]

Always with the "soveriegn nation"...can someone tells me where there is an unsoveriegn nation? :D

[CaptainHaplo]

Previous and current "protectorates" under direct UN administration:

Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium 1996 -1998
Cambodia 1992-1993
East Timor 1999-2002
Kosovo 1999-present

So right now - Kosovo is an "unsovereign" nation

That's what you get for asking, Onkel! :salute:

[Onkel Neal]

But I bet if we bomb it, it will become sovereign right quick.

At least we will know where it's located. :03:

[Tribesman]

However, when he calls the Yemeni "president" to congratulate him on his efforts against AQ - trying to make it appear that it was the Yemeni Air Force (as was initially reported in the region) makes it look like he doesn't have the cahones to stand and say it was the US that did it.
Its because the Yemeni president is having a little long running civil war and a war with "al-qaida" fundamentalists. And as america for some strange reason isn't very popular with much of the population in the region he doesn't want to loudly announce that he is allied with America and they are doing his bomb strikes for him as that will boost the opposition in the civil war.
Seriously, just allowing ship refueling caused them tons of problems, why on earth would they push publicity on air strikes.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

You know, I've been reading a biography of the Bin Laden family, who have their origins in Yemen. It actually made me want to visit that place. However, I shan't go as I think bad things could happen to me as a westerner, there.

[Tribesman]

However, I shan't go as I think bad things could happen to me as a westerner, there.
Being an easterner isn't much help either. Two of the recent attacks have been against Koreans

[Skybird]

However, when he calls the Yemeni "president" to congratulate him on his efforts against AQ - trying to make it appear that it was the Yemeni Air Force (as was initially reported in the region) makes it look like he doesn't have the cahones to stand and say it was the US that did it.
Don't take it literally. The government there is not really in bed with the orthodox majoirty of the country and "radical islamists" as well as many local tribal leaders. If the government admits to have let the Americans in, it would be much more problematic to contain orthodox reactions to the event, than if the government takes the responsibility for the strike. Yemen is known to be a hot plce for tourists, many kidnapping take place, usually resolved by paying money to tribal leaders. But it shows you the relation between the central government, and the tribes.

Obama was wise not to raise the US flag over the strike. In the end, the effect is what counts: have the targetted persons been killed, or not?