Yemen and American drones: “for” and “against”
The topic of the use of UAVs in Yemen was raised by the world media back in August 2013, but in the light of the November report of human rights activists, it became especially topical. On the one hand, the government of the country asks Washington Drones to fight the al-Qaeda network, on the other hand, it turned out that from 200 to 700 citizens died from UAV strikes (it is impossible to obtain exact data) and that against the attacks "drones”, about which America does not warn Yemen, the entire government, excluding the president, speaks.In late July and early August, American drones targeting al-Qaeda members hit a number of targets in Yemen. The attacks were associated with the growing terrorist threat in the regions of the Middle East and Africa and the existence of some exposed conspiracy directed against the West by the leader of al-Qaeda A. al-Zawahiri. Due to the terrorist threat, a number of American embassies were also closed for quite a long time, and employees of diplomatic missions were evacuated.
There is no information in the press about whether the missiles from the UAV destroyed the targets. The Americans probably missed. The Pentagon usually cheerfully reports about its "hits".
Two weeks later, the press got information that Yemeni President Abd al-Rahman Mansour al-Hadi asked the United States for the provision of drones to help in the fight against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula "(AQAP). According to the president, XNUMX Islamist militants have been successfully killed by drone strikes in the country.
The Pentagon responded with a promise to provide Yemen with $ 75 million worth of reconnaissance drones and 48 mobile stations to monitor the vehicles.
Meanwhile, Washington continued its own attacks on the Islamist nests in Yemen.
In November, there were reports of the killing of first three extremists in the east of the country and then 12 al-Qaeda fighters in Abyan province in the south. As before, the Americans did not warn the Yemeni government of the attacks.
Well-known Yemeni human rights activist Baraa Shiban spoke out against the use of drones by the Americans in the country. He arrived in Washington and at a special briefing spoke about the deaths of more than seven hundred people as a result of missile attacks by American UAVs.
Comrade Shiban clarified that his data are approximate. After all, the Pentagon does not provide any detailed reports. According to the Yemeni government, not 700, but only 200 people died. As for the US administration, it considers Baraa Shiban's information "inaccurate."
Human rights defenders regularly complain to the Yemeni authorities, but the latter get off with empty replies and do nothing. According to Shiban, the United States is obliged to warn of strikes.
After Shiban's speech, Yemeni human rights activists and ordinary citizens, whose relatives and friends were killed in the attacks, including those who openly spoke out against Al-Qaeda and Islamist extremism, continued protests in the United States. On November 16, they gathered outside the White House, bringing with them models of drones and gravestones. Barack Obama could not remain silent and promised to make the "drone" attacks more transparent.
And the correspondent "RT" Lucy Kafanov visited the Yemeni village of Howlan, where American drones brought grief.
She said that the father of three children, the teacher of the local school, Ali Nasser, was killed in an American UAV strike. Together with him, his cousin, a 20-year-old student, Salim, was killed: he gave Ali a lift in a borrowed Toyota. History as follows: Ali and Salim picked up two strangers who turned out to be alleged al-Qaeda fighters. According to eyewitnesses, there was a buzz in the sky and rockets hit the car. Relatives identified Salim by a piece of trousers; his body just shattered into pieces. Salim's mother Um Salim Al-Kauli says:
“For XNUMX hours I could not believe that my son was killed by an American drone strike. Why? Tell me! May Allah take their souls, as they took the life of our son. He was the only breadwinner in the family. Now we can only mourn for him. "
The Yemeni Interior Ministry confirmed that the cousins had nothing to do with the terrorists.
However, the White House did not admit that these people were killed by a drone, although relatives are sure that the cause of death of their loved ones is a Hellfire rocket launched by a UAV.
How effective are UAVs in Yemen? Political scientist Abdul-Ghani Al-Iriani explains:
“Drone strikes are not diminishing the numbers of Al Qaeda. On the contrary, it is likely that they helped strengthen the organization. In the future, when the unit develops into a fairly large and powerful grouping, it will be able to inflict serious damage. "
The correspondent of "RT" also quotes the opinion of the president of the organization "Veterans For Peace" Leah Bolger:
“I believe that launching rockets that kill peaceful families from nowhere, from the sky is a kind of terrorism. I don't know how a terrorist can be identified when there is no evidence against him. This is what the Geneva Convention is about ”.
Leah continues:
“These raids are a violation of many of its provisions, a violation of the sovereignty of foreign states that we are striking at. Drone attacks are not only ineffective, they are also dangerous because with each innocent victim we are undeniably making new enemies for ourselves. "
It is unlikely that human rights defenders will achieve anything in the United States, especially if we remember that the President of Yemen does not particularly object to the attacks of "drones" and even asks to provide the country with these very "drones". To the American mistakes made at a distance, the Yemeni mistakes will be added. And every mistake is someone's death, which for the military is nothing more than statistics (and very dark).
The American military-industrial complex will continue to promote the UAV.
The other day on "InoSMI" Ilya Plekhanov's reportage "The Filling Skies" was published, where the author spoke about the first international summit "Unmanned aerial vehicles in the world" held at Georgetown University in the USA. The summit was organized by the University Lawyers' Guild, the Institute for Policy Studies, the women's human rights and antiwar organization Code Pink and The Nation magazine. The meeting was also attended by delegations from Yemen and Pakistan.
As it turned out, strikes from UAVs are inflicted by only three states in the world: the USA, Great Britain, and Israel.
Meanwhile, according to Peter Singer, director of the 87st Century Security and Intelligence Center at the Brookings Institution, 26 countries already have drones. The expert claims that 1 of them have either bought or are close to building "drones" like the MQ-XNUMX "Predator", capable of delivering missile strikes.
In addition to Predator, Israeli IAI Heron is popular in the world market. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, from 2001 to 2011. 41% of all UAVs in international trade were supplied by Israel. Israel sells UAVs to 24 countries, including the United States. "Frost & Sullivan" published a report on Israeli UAVs, from which it became clear that from 2005 to 2012. Israel sold $ 49 billion to 4,6 foreign buyers of drones, while the United States sold only $ 2 billion to $ 3 billion.
The United States is not at all going to wind up drone programs. On the contrary, experts believe that the volume of the UAV market will go up.
Teal Group Corp. recently released the tenth report on the global UAV market. By 2023, the market size may increase from the current $ 5,2 billion to $ 11,6 billion, and investments in R&D will rise from $ 1,9 to $ 4 billion, with the United States taking 65% of the R&D market and 51% of sales.
In 2010, UAVs accounted for 41% of the total number of aircraft in the United States Air Force. In 2011, the Air Force trained 300 drone operators and only 250 F-16 pilots. According to a Brookings Institution report, the Air Force currently has just over 1300 UAV operators (8,5% of the total number of pilots), but there will be 1750 by 2017.
I. Plekhanov quotes the words of John Henry Hoeven, Senator from North Dakota, said by those in December 2012 at a meeting in the Senate on the growing role of UAVs in the world:
“Our military uses UAVs all over the world. We are leading the way in this technology. ... We must continue to be the world leader in aviation technology is important to national security and important to job creation. ... We are obliged to develop technology and systems in order to use UAVs in the airspace of our country simultaneously with commercial aviation and general aviation. This is vital to maintain our leadership. ”
Against the background of recent statements by Obama and John Kerry about American "exceptionalism", we add, Hooven's words take on an ominous connotation.
It should also be remembered that not only in connection with the economic crisis, but also in connection with the inevitable increase in the technological component in the defense strategy of the XNUMXst century, the United States will increase funds that kill at a distance, which, in turn, will be actively promoted by insatiable masters. MIC, successfully lobbying capitalist interests in Congress. One John McCain, the main supporter of the aggression against Syria, whose election campaigns are just sponsored by the American weapons barons, what are they worth! ..
Therefore, as before, Washington will shrug off human rights defenders, making promises, making statements and assuring the international community that the information about civilian casualties in Pakistan or Yemen is inaccurate.
Observed and commented on Oleg Chuvakin
- especially for topwar.ru
- especially for topwar.ru
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