We droned 4 more "Al-Qiada militants" in Yemen last night. Notice the designation.

[dixiegrrrrl]

US officials confirm reports that 4 al-Qaida militants killed in an American drone strike in Yemen overnight
Breaking News Headline
http://www.breakingnews.com/

Usually the targets are retroactively named militants OR Al-Qaida ( in various spellings)
But last night some joystick jockey sitting in air condittioned comfort managed to splatter 4 people,
which were identified to the news as both militants AND Al-Qaida.

I have also seen strikes reported as against "islamic militants" which makes me wonder if there are now non-Islamic militants AND
Al-Qaida militants AND Islamic militants, AND just Al-Quaida,(with or without the U)
plus we were droning the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan for awhile, but apparently have stopped doing that.

Tis all very confusing.

[AppleBottom]

1. Due process is so old-fashioned.

Summary execution is the new progressive.

[Renew Deal]

2. Do you mean like this?

[NuclearDem]

3. Didn't realize al-Qaida trumpeted itself as a bastion of human rights and dignity

[AppleBottom]

4. Al Qaeda engages in due process?

Thanks for holding Americans to the same standards as terrorist.
Also thanks for invoking propaganda to devalue tragic events.

[think]

5. Protecting those oil pipelines requires one to believe the fictional

window dressing.....

[hobbit709]

6. Any dead Vietnamese peasant in black pajamas was VC.

[frylock]

10. Who's in pajamas, Walter?

[JRLeft]

7. Do we even know if they were really Al Queda, I think it is a real possibility that these people may

be innocent civilians. Reports have been fabricated before.

[Recursion]

8. "Al Qaeda" is a brand (Bin Ladin himself said so back in '04)

I wish more people had paid attention to Bin Ladin's 2004 message; it captures the nihilistic logic perfectly. "Al Qaeda" is a brand invented as a term of convenience by the US DoD (it came from Saudi militants in Afghanistan in the 1980's saying "it would be really great if we had a database (qaeda) of all the militants we've worked with to use in the next war", a database which Zawahiri eventually produced and Bin Ladin then used for fundraising).

Anyways, UBL's point was that by elevating that one name, we gave him a banner he could raise "in the remotest mountains" and tie down four divisions of the most powerful military on earth. Furthermore, the whole sick power of a brand is that it's true whenever people think it's true: a militant in Yemen (and there are plenty) becomes a Qaedi simply by calling himself that, or even being called it by others. Whatever his view on the Near vs. Far Enemy debate (which is what originally separated AQ from MB), the US claims him as a kill and Bin Ladin's successors claim him as a shahid; everybody's happy except the poor bastards who get blown up by one of the two making the claims.

If you haven't read Hegel on the dialectical nature of history, this is probably a good invitation to do so; only three octaves down and in a minor key.

[JRLeft]

9. Al Queda is an idea. This why it is a never ending cycle of death.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. re: Hegel..

I agree with your point.....Naomi Wolf had her finger on the issue when she called it Disaster Capitalism. Just took her more words to say it.

[Recursion]

12. Naomi Klein, I think?

She talks more generally about branding as a concept in "No Logo"

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. ooops...yes...thanks for the edit.

You ever have one of those days when you just can't wake up?