Jack Serle

Trump’s New Targeting Rules Pave the Way for Escalating the US War in Somalia 

The rate of US drone strikes in Somalia have doubled since Trump enacted new rules reversing targeting procedures introduced by Obama in response to concerns about civilian casualties.

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed seen here with commander US Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser earlier this year via Africom

Last week's US air operation in Somalia took the total number of strikes carried out in 2017 to a record 29, raising the possibility of an expansion in military operations outside of conventional battlefields under President Donald Trump. Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama had already escalated strikes in Somalia to 14 a year, reflecting the

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Yemen Hit With Unprecedented Number Of US Drone, Air Strikes

The attacks come a month after a botched US special forces raid ended in the deaths of 25 civilians, including nine children under the age of 13.

Jack Serle
Jessica Purkiss
By Jack Serle
And Jessica Purkiss
A man inspects his home destroyed by Saudi-led airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016. According to U.N. figures, the war in Yemen has killed at least 5,884 people since March, when fighting escalated after the Saudi-led coalition began launching airstrikes claiming to be targeting the Houthi rebels. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

(REPORT) --- In an unprecedented intensification of America’s counter-terrorism operations in Yemen, the US has confirmed it carried out 20 strikes across three central provinces. The strikes, which were carried out in the early morning, targeted fighters from the regional arm of al Qaeda, known as AQAP, their equipment and infrastructure, in

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Record Number Of Civilians Killed And Injured In 2016 Afghan Airstrikes

Air attacks by Afghan and international forces caused a total of 590 civilian casualties in 2016 (250 deaths and 340 people injured), almost double that of 2015.

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
An employee of Doctors Without Borders, MSF, walks inside the charred remains of the organization's hospital after it was hit by a U.S. airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan. (AP/Najim Rahim)

(REPORT) --- Airstrikes killed and injured more civilians in Afghanistan last year than at any time since the United Nations (UN) began systematically recording casualties there in 2009. The “sharp increase” in civilian casualties from air attacks came during a year that saw the highest ever number of non-combatants killed and injured since the

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Trump, Obama And The Future Of The Targeted Killing Program

Obama developed and expanded a defining policy architecture which his successor Donald Trump now inherits: the ability to kill suspected terrorists anywhere without US personnel having to leave their bases.

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
freedom of the press

(ANALYSIS) --- Barack Obama’s foreign policy legacy is often discussed in terms of things he didn’t do: intervene in Syria, reset with Russia, get out of Afghanistan. In one area however, Obama developed and expanded a defining policy architecture which his successor Donald Trump now inherits: the ability to kill suspected terrorists anywhere

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Obama Carried Out Ten Times More Drone Strikes Than Bush

Obama oversaw more strikes in his first year than Bush carried out during his entire presidency.

Jack Serle
Jessica Purkiss
By Jack Serle
And Jessica Purkiss
The number of civilians killed by United States drone strikes is at least 500, nearly all of the strikes were a part of the Obama administration’s targeted assassination policy. (Photo: (Image: Lance Page/Truthout; Adapted: Amanda Currier, Nathan Barry/Flickr-CC)

There were ten times more air strikes in the covert war on terror during President Barack Obama’s presidency than under his predecessor, George W. Bush. Obama embraced the US drone programme, overseeing more strikes in his first year than Bush carried out during his entire presidency. A total of 563 strikes, largely by drones, targeted Pakistan,

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US Airstrikes In Afghanistan Killing Civilians At Greatest Rate In Seven Years

The rate at which civilians are being killed by US airstrikes in Afghanistan is at its highest point since 2008, an analysis of newly published UN data reveals.

Jack Serle
Payenda Sargand
By Jack Serle
And Payenda Sargand
Mourners after alleged US drone strike kills 14 in Khost, June 2015 (Photo: Gul Marjan Farooqzoi)

Research by the Bureau shows that on average a civilian was killed every fourth drone or jet strike in 2015 – up from one in 11 attacks the year before and the first time the casualty rate has risen since 2011. The rate was last at such levels at the height of the Afghan war in 2008. The rates are calculated by using civilian death tolls

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Over 30 Westerners Have Been Killed By Covert US Drone Stikes

The CIA’s own data shown that it is only able to identify one out four victims of drone strikes, labeling the remaining three as unknown militants.

Jack Serle
By Jack Serle
Flowers and ribbons adorn a tree outside the Weinstein family house in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 23, 2015. Weinstein is one of over 30 Westerns killed by Covert U.S. drone strikes.

Flowers and ribbons adorn a tree outside the Weinstein family house in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 23, 2015.  Weinstein is one of over 30 Westerns killed by covert U.S. drone strikes. As the Bureau revealed recently, the accidental killing of American Warren Weinstein and Italian Giorgio Lo Porto by the CIA in January now means at least

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