Thursday June 14, 2012, 6:41 am
thank you

Thursday June 14, 2012, 7:49 am
There is no definitive accounting of America’s operations in Yemen and the region that surrounds it. But some details of the secretive missions have been leaked to the press.

This is same situation we had in VietNam, we were in there before we were "officially" in there.

The White House has declared al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen is to be the biggest terror threat to Americans today. The campaign to neutralize that threat is far-reaching — involving commandos, cruise missiles, and, of course, drone aircraft. It is also, according to some experts on the region, completely backfiring. Since the US ramped up its operations in Yemen in 2009, the ranks of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, have swelled from 300 fighters to more than 1,000.

For all of that firepower, there’s something rather obvious missing: a sense of how and why we’re fighting there. Yes, terrorists based there have tried to attack Americans — tried and repeatedly failed. And yes, the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, passed by Congress right after 9/11, gives the military wide latitude to chase al-Qaida adherents around the globe. But there’s no articulated rationale for why these unsuccessful militants in Yemen warrant this particular military response. No sense of what victory looks like.

In this case, however, countering terror also carries the risk of participating in a civil war. The local al-Qaida group “is joined at the hip” with an insurgency largely focused on toppling the local government, one US official told the Washington Post. Take on the wannabe terrorists, and you may be wind up fighting the area’s insurgents, as well.

“In an effort to destroy the threat coming out of Yemen, the US is getting sucked further into the quicksand of a conflict it doesn’t understand and one in which its very presence tilts the tables against the US,” Johnsen wrote.

Over in nearby Somalia, just across the Gulf of Aden, America has backed proxies from the Kenyan army to a “butcher” warlord to take on the local terror group, al-Shabab. But American forces have become directly involved, too. US destroyers have launched missiles and fired their guns at terrorist targets. Members of SEAL Team 6 have dropped in to rescue hostages. Then of course, there are the drones. Perhaps, by Panetta’s standards, this means the US is “at war” in Somalia, as well.

Undeclared wars are dangerous wars. Questions about goals and resources can go unanswered, when there’s no need to convince the people or the Congress of their merits. No one knows how undeclared wars end, or even when they’re won, because no one measures the progress of wars fought in the shadows. The only way they end is when the US decides to simply walk away.

The president doesn’t need to address a joint session of Congress every time he dispatches a warship or a handful of military advisers, naturally. But this fight in Yemen isn’t a disconnected, sporadic series of strikes. It’s wide-ranging and it’s multi-pronged. It’s costing lives while building up the ranks of our enemies. It’s war. And it’s time our Commander in Chief came out and said it.

If this war is worth waging, it’s worth waging openly. And it’s worth having a strategy with a clearly defined, achievable goal. Does anyone know what that is in Yemen? Is it the end of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula? The containment of AQAP? A functional Yemeni government that can fight AQAP without U.S. aid? We’ve gotten so used to fighting in the shadows for so long, we barely even ask our leadership what victory looks like.

And there you have it, your tax monies hard at work!

While the Elites don't want to pay extra taxes for these misadventures, I don't blame them, I don't want to pay for them either. However, the Elites somehow don't stop these from happening as they either make money from it or they are too busy counting their gold coins to go out on their next yacht excursion. But the Elites sure get their knickers in a knot on programs like the Food Stamps that feed hungry children or wanting to slash the various programs for the Elders that are barely making it. Get rid of those overpaid teachers and the firefighters, medical care for those who have none, they certainly have no trouble speaking up on those issues.

Thursday June 14, 2012, 9:42 am
America war driving for money and control

Thursday June 14, 2012, 11:22 pm
Assassination by drone IS an act of war.
Just ask Obama when enemies get the technology and use it on HIS f(r)iends.
Seems Obama is asking for an "Endless War" through "Endless Illegal Provocations". Is this the same Obama we voted for???
I think not. War, NO MORE!

Wednesday June 20, 2012, 1:04 am
You are all so right. We are in a permanent war, the "War on Terror". It has no clearly defined, delimited enemy, really. "Terror"? I can't imagine the terror of wondering when a drone is going to hit my home and family. If the enemy is "terror" how do you know if you have won? The whole scam is a setup for endless, undeclared war, and a contant stoking of the military-industrial complex. The Masters of War continue to rake it in. The hell with everyone and everything else.

Wednesday June 20, 2012, 7:36 am
Right on Judy.....Aho! Also agree with you John C., what a joke, the Peace Prize.

Saturday June 30, 2012, 9:22 am
Thank you Judy. Yes it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize we ARE IN A PERMANENT $$ WAR$$.

Saturday June 30, 2012, 9:31 am
The so-called "WAR" is, in fact, a fascist american imperialism supported by the big corporations in
US of A and one of their goals is PROFIT. The corporations' rationale is people are expendable.
Collateral Damage.

A friend of mine is from Yemen and he says that nothing is going on in his country. He and his relatives says that the skirmishes are incurring along the borders.

Ty, Judy.
.

Saturday June 30, 2012, 5:36 pm
Thanks Judy, Enough of United Sates getting in to wars.

Sunday July 1, 2012, 2:32 am
Probably easier to count where the US isn't.Thanks Judy.

Sunday July 1, 2012, 10:05 pm
Thank you, Judy, for this very interesting and informative article! Thanks for the forward, Dandelion!

Monday July 2, 2012, 1:34 am
Thanx Judy. Wonder how much all those ships who are basically helping local pirates are costing us...We need to get the right women in positions of authority~all positions. The good dems can stay.

Monday July 2, 2012, 10:40 am
noted. I agree..enough with the US being involved in wars. If I had my way....the only involvement we'd have would be for humanitarian reasons. Let us govern us...and let other countries do the same

Wednesday July 4, 2012, 12:43 pm
With the weather or storm conditions and the lack of power in certain parts of the United States, the radio station I usually listen to at work was airing different programs than usual. A “Meet the Press” radio program came on and the men, who were talking, claimed that the Pentagon was getting ready for “a new” war right now!!! However, the American people are not fully aware of this!!!