Family Says They're Innocent Victims of Trump's Drone War

[DonViejo]

U.S. drone strikes in Yemen have tripled under Trump. One attack killed five members of a single family—and not one of them was a terrorist, relatives tell The Daily Beast.

ADAM RAWNSLEY
05.07.18 4:43 AM ET

It was 2 o’clock in the afternoon when a Toyota Land Cruiser carrying five members of the Manthari family were headed to the city of al-Sawma’ah in Yemen’s al-Bayda governorate. Relatives say the five men in the truck were looking to pick up a local elder to witness the sale of some land in nearby al-Aqla. As they approached the city, a missile fired by a U.S. drone slammed into their truck, killing three men instantly. Another relative died in the hospital.

The Defense Department issued a statement claiming that the March 29 drone strike killed four terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). “No civilians were present and therefore none were injured or killed as a result of the strike,” the statement claimed.

But family members of the victims, tribal leaders, and a human rights group have stepped forward to issue public statements defending those killed. What’s more, they’re offering evidence that the deceased weren’t al Qaeda terrorists but innocent civilians mistakenly targeted by the Pentagon—the victims of a more aggressive drone war waged by the Trump administration that has seen a tripling of strikes and a looser targeting rules allowing for more civilian casualties.

Deprived of their family breadwinners and fearful that they could be targeted next, the Mantharis are now asking that the U.S. government clear the names of those killed in the strike and offer compensation for their deaths.

more
https://www.thedailybeast.com/family-says-theyre-innocent-victims-of-trumps-drone-war?ref=home

[marble falls]

1. "Mistakes were made".....

Mistakes were made

"Mistakes were made" is an expression that is commonly used as a rhetorical device, whereby a speaker acknowledges that a situation was handled poorly or inappropriately but seeks to evade any direct admission or accusation of responsibility by not specifying the person who made the mistakes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistakes_were_made

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. The Bravery of Being out of Range

You have a natural tendency
To squeeze off a shot
You're good fun at parties
You wear the right masks
You're old but you still
Like a laugh in the locker room
You can't abide change
You're at home on the range

You opened your suitcase
Behind the old workings
To show off the magnum
You deafened the canyon
A comfort a friend
Only upstaged in the end
By the Uzi machine gun
Does the recoil remind you
Remind you of sex