Trump Administration Is Said to Be Working to Loosen Counterterrorism Rules

[highplainsdem]

Source: NYT

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is exploring how to dismantle or bypass Obama-era constraints intended to prevent civilian deaths from drone attacks, commando raids and other counterterrorism missions outside conventional war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.

Already, President Trump has granted a Pentagon request to declare parts of three provinces of Yemen to be an “area of active hostilities” where looser battlefield rules apply. That opened the door to a Special Operations raid in late January in which several civilians were killed, as well as to the largest-ever series of American airstrikes targeting Yemen-based Qaeda militants, starting nearly two weeks ago, the officials said.

Mr. Trump is also expected to sign off soon on a similar Pentagon proposal to designate parts of Somalia to be another such battlefield-style zone for 180 days, removing constraints on airstrikes and raids targeting people suspected of being militants with the Qaeda-linked group the Shabab, they said.

-snip-

The move to open the throttle on using military force — and accept a greater risk of civilian casualties — in troubled parts of the Muslim world comes as the Trump administration is also trying to significantly increase military spending and cut foreign aid and State Department budgets.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/us/politics/trump-loosen-counterterrorism-rules.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. I wish they would just come out and call it for what it is...genocide

The people unfortunate to be born there, in the way of the oil and other riches that other people want,
have never been described with any sense of human concern or caring, not by their so called leaders, not by our Gov't, obviously, and not by Europe when they manage, against all odds, to get their in one last ditch attempt at survival.
and now Trump wants to make it easier to kill them.
which may a kindness, compared to terror and slow starvation that faces them.

We have turned Iraq into a wasteland, and very deliberately, starting with the first bomb of "shock ans awe", and then spread into Syria, with various excuses, and much help from "allies" and "enemies" alike.

Meanwhile, in several hellish hotspots in Africa....the same thing.
I want so much to believe in hell for killers, an even worse hell than they have created for the victims of their greed.

[Equinox Moon]

2. The horrific Yemen raid by USA January 29, 2017

The Intercept had an investigative reporter in Yemen, post raid. Wow! What a story. This little village was decimated within an hour. Civilians were shot as they FLED. I think the count is some 30 people died and I don't know the count of the wounded. 120 animals killed. The living left their village as refugees with no homes, no live stock.

https://theintercept.com/2017/03/09/women-and-children-in-yemeni-village-recall-horror-of-trumps-highly-successful-seal-raid/

And now we have a NYT report that the fake president plans on doing this as much as possible.

How is this not terrorism by the USA? No one can convince me otherwise.

[milestogo]

3. 30 civilians killed, including 10 children

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/donald-trump-us-military-attack-yemen-civilians-women-children-dead-a7553121.html

He couldn't wait to shed blood.

[montana_hazeleyes]

6. It is terrorism!

They call themselves Christian?!? They have blood guilt and can't wait to shed more innocent blood. They are EVIL.

[Solly Mack]

4. and the blowback will blow

[Beartracks]

5. Yeah!!! How can we be a great nation if we don't accidentally kill civilians?!

WTF, Trump regime? Really??

============================

[FailureToCommunicate]

7. One word for you Mr Trump: blowback.

And it's a bitch.