Obama’s War Crimes, the Al-Majalah massacre.

The use of targeted killings and the so called “drone wars” is nothing new, it is a well known but highly controversial aspect of the Global War against Terrorism. There exists a multitude of example’s where it is possible to argue that the United States of America has committed both international and domestic crimes under both Bush and Obama administrations. This thread is about a war crime committed by the later who then tried to cover up the crime in the name of “combating terrorism” and it is truly a troubling saga.

This is how the Obama administration destroyed a entire village in Yemen then tried to cover up the crime.

December 17 2009.

Just before dawn on December 17 2009, a little 4 year old girl named Arwa Mohammed Nasser life along with that of her entire family came to a abrupt and violent end when the hamlet of Al-Majalah that her and her Bedouin tribe ,the Haydara clan along with another clan, called home was struck by a number of American cruise missiles. Instantly 41 civilians were killed including young Arwa, shortly after 3 other civilians were killed as a result of stepping on the bomblets leftover from the cluster bombs (that’s right they used cluster munitions, but more on that later). Of these 21 were children the youngest just one years old and 14 women 5 of whom were pregnant.

Interestingly another operation was taking place that day in which Yemeni forces captured a number of suspected however it was the attack on the camp at Al-Majalah [Al-Maajala] that creates the most controversy. Instantly following the attack the “official story” was established, the official line was that this was a strike by Yemeni forces against a Al-Qa’ida training camp that killed between 24-50 members of Al-Qa’ida, with no direct involvement of American forces according to a Whitehouse spokesmen. Officially the operation was to remove a suspected Al-Qa’ida leader Qasim Al-Raymi, who may have been involved in targeting Spanish tourists and (or, as its unclear) Saleh Mohammed al-Anbouri, who lived in the hamlet along with his family and had debatable links to terrorists.

The Boston Globe the day after the attack reported that:

President Obama called Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to praise this country’s efforts to fight terrorism, saying yesterday’s raids “show Yemen’s determination to face the threat of Osama bin Laden’s global terrorist network of Al Qaeda,’’ according to Yemen’s Saba state news agency.

Obama, the agency reported, gave assurances that the United States would support Yemen in the realms of security, politics, and development. It was unclear what role the United States played in yesterday’s operations. American drones and operatives have targeted Al Qaeda sites in Yemen, Somalia, and the Horn of Africa in the past.

When asked by reporters if the United States was involved in any operations in Yemen, State Department spokesman Robert Wood declined to speak specifically about yesterday’s operation, saying “we cooperate with the government of Yemen and other governments around the world in fighting Al Qaeda and others, you know, practicing terrorism.’’

Yesterday’s operation targeted the alleged training camp in Al-Maajala, 300 miles south of the capital Sana, in the southern province of Abyan, a longtime haven for Islamic jihadists. The attack “led to the killing of between 24 to 30 militants of Al Qaeda, including foreign members, who carried out training,’’ the military statement said.

Its interesting to note that this same article makes mention of opposition to the Yemeni government of Ali Saleh saying that there may have been a number of civilian casualties and even at this early stage the official story was starting to show signs of weakness. With ABC reporting that:

On order from President Barack Obama , the U.S. military launched cruise missiles early Thursday against two suspected al-Qaeda sites in Yemen, administration officials told ABC News in a report broadcast on ABC World News with Charles Gibson.

This is quite obviously at odds with the official story which slowly began to crumble as ABC early on suspected that Obama himself had ordered the attack.

And this report from Al-Jazeera



The Lies.

In Yemen word had spread of the attack and began to put pressure on to the Yemeni president Ali-Saleh regarding the attack. In response to this Saleh raised the issue with then CENTCOM Commander General David Petraeus. The Secret communication between the two was eventually leaked to Wikileaks in which it states that:

Saleh praised the December 17 and 24 strikes against AQAP but said that "mistakes were made" in the killing of civilians in Abyan. The General responded that the only civilians killed were the wife and two children of an AQAP operative at the site, prompting Saleh to plunge into a lengthy and confusing aside with Deputy Prime Minister Alimi and Minister of Defense Ali regarding the number of terrorists versus civilians killed in the strike.

This leak is interesting for several reasons, firstly it seems to be Saleh praising Patraeus for the strike which implies that America was responsible for the strike. It is also very interesting to note that Partraeus later in the cable makes it clear that in return for president Saleh’s cooperation the US government would increase aid to $150 Million. But the most interesting part of this cable is where Partreaus claims that only the target and his wife and child where killed (2 civilian casualties), this is a lie, even the media at the time new the number was much higher hence the confusion by the Yemini officials upon hearing this. This confusion and pressure from opposition groups forced the Yemini government into commissioning a official parliamentary Report into the attack at Al-Majalah

This report is damming to the Obama administration, its states that it found little evidence that any of those killed were guilty of any crimes, it makes mention of survivors seeing a plane taking circling the area after the attack and states that there could have been more effective means of dealing with the perceived threat. It also does not describe the small hamlet as a “terrorist training camp”. Essentially it says that the Obama administration killed over 40 civilians to get at one guy who might have been a terrorist yet the evidence of how this individual represented a threat to America is still unclear.

They even imprisoned the Yemeni reporter who first exposed the killings, Abdulelah Haider Shaye who was only recently released from his Yemeni prision. According to investigative Journalist Jeremy Scahill (you may remember him, he exposed BlackWater), who is a major source for this thread, Shaye was kept in prison after Obama put pressure on the Yemeni president to keep him locked up. Scahill has speculated that this was to keep the Yemeni Journalist quiet about the US munitions and killing at Al-Majalah.

War Crimes

Its convenient perhaps that America is not a signature part of the convention on cluster munitions (like most NATO States) because that is exactly what was used during the strike at Al-Majalah. If say the United Kingdom where to have committed this act it would have been a war crime, yet because America refuses to sign the treaty it is technically legal. This is despite Obama's original campaign putting forward a proposal to:

restrict Pentagon spending on cluster bombs, which explode and scatter thousands of tiny weapons over a vast area. Those small bombs are prone to going off years after a battle, sometimes killing and maiming Middle Eastern children who mistakenly trigger them

Please take note of the part highlighted in bold, it’s interesting to note then with this in mind that t according to Amnesty this Nobel peace prize winning president had:

US cruise missiles launched on presidential orders had been fired at two alleged al-Qa'ida sites in Yemen.

“Based on the evidence provided by these photographs, the US government must disclose what role it played in the al-Ma'jalah attack, and all governments involved must show what steps they took to prevent unnecessary deaths and injuries,” said Philip Luther.

The photographs enable the positive identification of damaged missile parts, which appear to be from the payload, mid-body, aft-body and propulsion sections of a BGM-109D Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile.

This type of missile, launched from a warship or submarine, is designed to carry a payload of 166 cluster submunitions (bomblets) which each explode into over 200 sharp steel fragments that can cause injuries up to 150m away. An incendiary material inside the bomblet also spreads fragments of burning zirconium designed to set fire to nearby flammable objects.

(LINK)


So the president who once stated that he wanted to reduce Pentagon spending on cluster munitions because of the harm they cause to Middle Eastern children then in 2009, ordered a BGM-T009 Tomahawk cluster munitions at a camp which then killed 21 middle eastern children. Then they lied about the entire thing, tried to say there were very limited civilian casualties, they also claimed they had no direct involvement in the attack. As we can see the whole thing was a big lie, he even tried to shut up the Yemeni reporter who starting making a waves about this.

OBAMA LIED, he authorized the strike that killed over 40 innocent civilians in a country America is not at war with.

If any other state done this it would be a war crime, imagine the outcry if North Korea or Iran committed this crime.

Final Thoughts

Obama committed this war crime, and really thats what this is, he killed over 40 innocent in a cruise missile strike targeted at a country America is not at war with. He done this on the back of a campaign against Bush era republican policies yet less than a year later he kills 40 after ordering this strike.

Recently a FOI request into the strike has been requested to establish the legal grounds on which this action was taken and what evidence there was that terrorists were in the camp. To date, not justifiable reason has been provided to justify this action. Some have speculated that the Yemeni's just gave the Americans the camp under pressure to produce results to obtain American aid and to enforce the Yemeni President's power but that is just speculation.

Regardless of the truth it is very clear that Obama ordered a attack that killed over 40 innocents and then the administration tried to cover it up, denying direct involvement, imprisoning a journalist and downplaying the number of civilians killed.

If anyone else dont this it would be considered a War crime.

At the very least David Petraeus the head of CENTCOM at the time is guilty in my view of the killing of these people.

They deserve justice.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin

Thank you very much for posting this very detailed and enlightening thread.
Star and flags are in order for you.

I am sickened each time I hear these revelations, but we can't bury our heads in the sand as if it doesn't exist.
This needs to be emblazoned on the Headlines.

You, and many others may want justice but at this rate you will more likely end up on a secret list and disappear. Nobel peace prize winner huh.

I'm wondering if all the ATSers who cheered when Obama got his Nobel Peace Prize, and who said he deserved it, are now finally understanding that he never should have gotten it. It was 'cool' to elect him and it was 'cool' to give him a Peace Prize. But this is what 'cool' gets you ... a whole lotta' dead and broke.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Well this is what the Norwegian Nobel committee had to say on October 2009 regarding Obama:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.

Link

hmmmm then two months later he orders the bombing of Al-Majalah.

I wonder if those who died in the bombing would agree that he demonstrated "Extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy" when those cluster munitions started raining down on them and their families?

This is a very interesting albeit disturbing thread. I seem to recall reading about certain aspects of it, perhaps in Glenn Greenwald article.

However once again many Americans are missing the bigger picture. ALWAYS the finger of blame is pointed at Obama. But it wouldn't make a difference if it was a president other than Obama - these actions are now the modu operandi in the U.S. government and it's the culture that's established itself in the entire political establishment.

I am pretty sure that he won the Nobel peace prize for just replacing Bush and promising to end the war. Unfortunately it took him 4 years to end it because why? Oh yeah I remember, we couldn't just pull out it would endanger our remaining troops (remember the republicans screaming that one?). So my question is, were they war crimes when Bush was commiting them?

dashen
You, and many others may want justice but at this rate you will more likely end up on a secret list and disappear. Nobel peace prize winner huh.

Believe it or not...A good number of us have thought that out carefully, considered the risks with eyes wide open and are taking that chance 100% by choice and with no delusions as to that. It's a troubled time when simply speaking out about injustice our nation once would have been vocal in resisting ... is grounds to worry about targeting by some of the people running said nation today.

OP, thanks for the work you put into this. I really don't know how we get away with everything we do for finding and sharing things like this, when we can plainly see what happens to others around the world that are doing the same thing. The only difference I see sometimes is what side of the U.S. land border a person is standing on ..and sometimes, that seems to make little difference anymore.

Heck... Look at the bright side, Dashen. We'll all get to the camps first so those of you who follow later won't have that 'New Prison Camp" smell to deal with. We'll have it all broken in with a smooth routine by then.

* Of course, new guys get latrine duty..so be warned.

reply to post by damwel


What i find most shocking is that just two months after he was awarded this "prize" he went and ordered this attack.

Really, think about what would have happened if say Assad was the guy that done this.

There would be international outcry.

Kram09
This is a very interesting albeit disturbing thread. I seem to recall reading about certain aspects of it, perhaps in Glenn Greenwald article.

However once again many Americans are missing the bigger picture. ALWAYS the finger of blame is pointed at Obama. But it wouldn't make a difference if it was a president other than Obama - these actions are now the modu operandi in the U.S. government and it's the culture that's established itself in the entire political establishment.

Quoted for truth.

It's so easy to always fall into trap and blame the President. What's important is blaming all the players behind the scenes because they know Obama is their fall guy, as does Obama. Don't get me wrong, Obama earns to have our fingers pointed at him but that's the whole point, so F Obama but always keep your eye on the prize, the shadow gov't.

reply to post by Swills


I have to say I agree with you and the member you are responding to.

This is not a partisan issue and should not be turned into one, as i said both administrations, Bush and Obama have committed what I believe can be interpreted as war crimes. Obama it would seem ordered then tried to cover up this attack but its important to realize that much of the military and "legal" apparatus that aloud him to do this was developed under the era of Bush, Chaney and Rumsfeld.

I think its amazing however that some of the same liberals and democratic voters who protested at Bush's policies and his track record of abuses yet stay quiet when a democratic President Obama does the exact same thing. Likewise however, its equally shocking when Republicans, Neo-cons and bush supporters chastise Obama for doing the exact same stuff the Neo-Con administration of Bush done.

The party politics of this should be put to aside, rather the discussion should be how do we bring these criminals to justice, how do we prevent these kind of atrocities and why do they continue to go on (this sadly is probably not a isolated incident).

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Exactly. It's time we stop believing that voting in a new puppet will change anything. It's time to start paying attention to the folks behind the curtain.

dashen
You, and many others may want justice but at this rate you will more likely end up on a secret list and disappear. Nobel peace prize winner huh.

Ill be the first to say it, Whats needed is not getting rid of the escape goat they give every 4-8 years, so that we can all feel like we did something about the a-hole and chief.

That is all political theater, all of this goes against what we are told this country stands for, Obama is the same as bush.

Every politician that expounds one of the two parties should be out on their ass.

If that gets me locked up for saying so it is a risk I gladly take.

AS an American, no as a Human BEING it is my right to voice my displeasure of the system that rules over us all.

If people can't be bothered to do that for fear of making a "list" they deserve the system their apathy has bought them.

reply to post by Swills


I think the partisan attitude that some take to stories like this contributes to the problem like I said i am amazed that for some this was ok under Bush but its a crime when Obama does it and vice-versa

No other takers then on this one?

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Excellent post. But truly....what else can you expect from such a morally deficient country like the USA? Increasingly, the Government chooses which laws they want to follow. Then they lie to cover it up. The American people had best wake up to whats going on around them.....quick.

reply to post by deadcalm


The blatant disregard for law in cases like this is just criminal (literally)

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


Same crap, different day!

reply to post by mekhanics


In the case of the so called "drone wars" i would have to say that image is very appropriate

Regardless of what Obama say's the truth is that under his administration the drone war has escalated far beyond the Bush doctrine