A group led by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan has protested near the CIA’s headquarters and former Vice President Dick Cheney’s home in northern Virginia.
They were protesting the use of unmanned drone aircraft to attack al-Qaida and Taliban targets.
The group of about 70 people rallied alongside a highway near the CIA compound Saturday. About half then marched to Cheney’s nearby street and stayed for 20 minutes. Police kept them from going down his street.
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She says using drones is “cowardly” and “immoral.”
In related news:
At least 15 militants have reportedly been killed in a latest US drone attack in Shaktoi region in North Waziristan.
The US drones targeted a militant hideout in the region, 40 kilometres southeast of Miranshah, destroying the building completely.
“The target was a militant compound. At least 15 bodies have been recovered from the rubble so far,” The News quoted a senior military official, as saying.
This is the second such missile hit in the region in as many days.
On Friday, 11 extremists were killed in twin drones strikes in the same region.
But wait, there’s more:
Six Al Qaeda militants have been killed in an air strike in northern Yemen in a stepped-up government campaign against the Islamist group.
“Two cars carrying eight dangerous Al Qaeda members were hit in an area between Saada and al-Jouf,” a Yemeni security official said.
“Two may have survived and escaped.”
Yemen, which gained a reputation as a haven for Al Qaeda after the September 11 attacks in the United States, has again come under the spotlight in recent months.
Yemen stepped up its operations against Al Qaeda after a Yemen-based wing of the group said it was behind an attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound US airliner on Christmas Day.
Crackdowns on Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan have also raised concerns Yemen is becoming a training and recruiting centre for militants.
The security official says those killed in the air strike include four men wanted by the Yemeni and US security services, including Qassem al-Remi, Ayed al-Shabwani, Ammar al-Waeli and Saleh al-Teys.
Al-Shabwani was one of the most dangerous Al Qaeda members who provided a hideout for other militants at his farm in Maarib, where their training took place.
Here’s hoping Dick Cheney’s influence continues to reach far and wide and continues to upset Ms. Sheehan.
Crossposted(*).
