A group led by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has protested near the CIA's headquarters and former Vice President Dick Cheney's home in northern Virginia.
They were protesting the use of unmanned drone aircraft to attack al-Qaida and Taliban targets.
The group of about 70 people rallied alongside a highway near the CIA compound Saturday. About half then marched to Cheney's nearby street and stayed for 20 minutes. Police kept them from going down his street.
...
She says using drones is "cowardly" and "immoral."
In related news:
At least 15 militants have reportedly been killed in a latest US drone attack in Shaktoi region in North Waziristan.
The US drones targeted a militant hideout in the region, 40 kilometres southeast of Miranshah, destroying the building completely.
“The target was a militant compound. At least 15 bodies have been recovered from the rubble so far,” The News quoted a senior military official, as saying.
This is the second such missile hit in the region in as many days.
On Friday, 11 extremists were killed in twin drones strikes in the same region.
But wait, there's more:
Six Al Qaeda militants have been killed in an air strike in northern Yemen in a stepped-up government campaign against the Islamist group.
"Two cars carrying eight dangerous Al Qaeda members were hit in an area between Saada and al-Jouf," a Yemeni security official said.
"Two may have survived and escaped."
Yemen, which gained a reputation as a haven for Al Qaeda after the September 11 attacks in the United States, has again come under the spotlight in recent months.
Yemen stepped up its operations against Al Qaeda after a Yemen-based wing of the group said it was behind an attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound US airliner on Christmas Day.
Crackdowns on Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan have also raised concerns Yemen is becoming a training and recruiting centre for militants.
The security official says those killed in the air strike include four men wanted by the Yemeni and US security services, including Qassem al-Remi, Ayed al-Shabwani, Ammar al-Waeli and Saleh al-Teys.
Al-Shabwani was one of the most dangerous Al Qaeda members who provided a hideout for other militants at his farm in Maarib, where their training took place.
Here's hoping Dick Cheney's influence continues to reach far and wide and continues to upset Ms. Sheehan.
Crossposted(*).
To be somewhat cynical and insensitive for a moment, let me get this straight:
She is protesting the use of drones for being cowardly.
But, in using those drones we save American soldiers who would otherwise have to go in and do the job, and thus risk being killed.
The whole reason she is protesting in the first place is because she lost her son in combat.
Seems to me she would be all for the use of drones because it keeps another mom from losing a son like she did - that is, if that's what her protesting is really all about and not just a sad attempt to stay in the public eye.
Posted by: Instinct | Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 05:50 PM
There is a sense that the drone attacks are actually one of the most humanitarian ways of dealing with terrorist masterminds... and terrorists themselves.
I mean... they don't know they are about to die... so they don't have to suffer the anxiety of 30 or so minutes in a choking, burning oven 100 floors in the air waiting for death... while trying to reach a loved one on their cell phone in terror and brokenness to say,
"Honey... I won't be coming home tonight... I just want to say how much I love you and appreciate you spending this part of your life with me..."
... you know... all that crazy kind of stuff.
No... with the drones... they just get to sit their one minute dreaming how they are going to try and get at the Great Satan... then... poof... next thing they know... they are looking at him... live and in person... forever.
Posted by: chuck aka xtnyoda | Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 05:56 PM