US, Yemen looking for new targets

Ynet News:

The US and Yemen are looking at new targets in Yemen for a potential retaliation strike, two senior American officials told CNN Tuesday following the failed Christmas Day attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, which al-Qaeda in Yemen claims it organized.

According to CNN, the officials stressed the effort is aimed at being ready with options for the White House if President Barack Obama orders a retaliatory strike, adding that the effort is to see whether targets can be specifically linked to the airliner incident and its planning.One of the officials was quoted by CNN as saying that the plan is part of a new classified agreement with the Yemeni government that the two countries will work together and that the US will remain publicly silent on its role in providing intelligence and weapons to conduct strikes.

The CNN report said that "by all accounts, the agreement would allow the US to fly cruise missiles, fighter jets or unmanned armed drones against targets in Yemen with the consent of that government."

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The need for UAVs continues to grow. They have become an indispensable weapon in the war against the Islamic religious bigots. Smaller precision weapons have also become more important than the large weapons typically on cruise missiles.

One of the things all these weapons have in common is they are standoff that do not expose troops. That is very frustrating for the enemy.

The original CNN story is here.