Not to be outdone by the Washington Post (Top Secret America), the Sunday NY Times greets its readers with its own expose, Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents.
The article begins with an anecdote about an air strike that killed a local Yemeni leader who “had been trying to talk Qaeda members into giving up their fight.” Contrary to press reports at the time, the strike was “a secret mission by the United States military,” and it is “at least the fourth such assault on Al Qaeda in the arid mountains and deserts of Yemen since December.”
The attack offered a glimpse of the Obama administration’s shadow war against Al Qaeda and its allies. In roughly a dozen countries — from the deserts of North Africa, to the mountains of Pakistan, to former Soviet republics crippled by ethnic and religious strife — the United States has significantly increased military and intelligence operations, pursuing the enemy using robotic drones and commando teams, paying contractors to spy and training local operatives to chase terrorists.
It’s business as usual in the White House as America’s leaders continue to act as though they have an unlimited purse while pursuing dreams of Empire. Read it and weep.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com