Algeria hostage siege comes to deadly end

[Cleita]

Sorry, I couldn't find anything here on it so if it's a dupe, my apologies.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/01/201311719454517593.html

At least 30 hostages and 11 members of an al-Qaeda-affiliated group were killed when Algerian forces stormed a desert gas plant to free the captives, Reuters news agency has quoted an Algerian security source as saying.

Eight Algerians and seven foreigners, including two British, two Japanese and a French national, were among the dead, the source said.

Algerian state television reported earlier that four foreigners had been killed after the end of the operation was announced late on Thursday.

Communication Minister Mohamed Said said troops had been forced to act after talks with the kidnappers failed.

More at link.

Man, they don't mess around.

[Cleita]

1. I'm surprised at the lack of interest in this here.

This is really big. It involves BP who were operating the gas plant. Americans and Brits have been killed and it's part of a problem brewing in Mali involving French forces on the ground and military help from us. It could erupt in a whole new war.

[d_r]

2. I think people are likely very interested

Just the facts are trickling in

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. This could be a new scandal, for starters.

[Cleita]

4. Rachel just reported on it, but Hillary Clinton made a statement on

Al Jazeera hours ago, however, our press is crickets.

[pinboy3niner]

5. CNN reported on Clinton's statement and showed a clip in its news hours

They also reported that the U.S. government said some Americans were among the freed hostages and were enroute to England, but the number was not clear.

[Cleita]

6. Nothing seems to be clear. eom

[derby378]

7. Our press is probably too focused on Lance Armstrong's interview to pay any attention

Hopefully they'll start doing their job soon and delve more deeply into this.

[TwilightGardener]

8. Everyone's kind of obsessed with guns right now.

Then it will be the debt ceiling. Foreign policy has been on the back burner for a while, even during the election--endless-war and Middle east burnout, I guess.

[Cleita]

9. I know and it's tragic because we could get so involved in another war if

we aren't watching the foxes before they move.

[The Straight Story]

10. I am still amazed that no one here

commented on how our drone attacks were being covered up by the Yemeni government.

Had it been under bush we would have had a ton of threads on this:

Yemeni Government Covers Up U.S. Responsibility for Civilian Drone Deaths
Yemeni Government Covers Up U.S. Responsibility for Civilian Drone Deaths

The government of Yemen has tried to claim responsibility for numerous airstrikes by American drones in an effort to keep its population from siding with al-Qaeda militants.

Of the nearly 40 attacks launched by U.S. unmanned aircraft in the Middle Eastern country, one in particular has stirred considerable controversy and antipathy towards Washington.

On September 2, an American missile destroyed a Toyota truck loaded with 14 Yemenis from a village near Radda. The attack killed 11, including a woman and two children.

The Yemeni government tried to claim that its own air force carried out the assault, and that those killed were al-Qaeda militants. Many locals refused to accept the official explanation, and eventually Yemeni officials were forced to acknowledge that the strike killed only civilians.

Following a 2009 U.S. drone strike on the southern region of al-Majala, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians, Yemen’s then-leader Ali Abdullah Saleh told then-U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David H. Petraeus, “We’ll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours.” The assurance was made in a U.S. Embassy email, which was later disclosed by WikiLeaks.
....

Now? Nothing. Not one comment, no threads.

[daleo]

11. The press is waiting for the official narrative to be developed

So it's in a holding pattern for now.