{"id":21336,"date":"2010-08-15T13:11:54","date_gmt":"2010-08-15T11:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=21336"},"modified":"2014-01-05T20:22:56","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T18:22:56","slug":"secret-assault-on-terrorism-widens-on-two-continents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/08\/15\/secret-assault-on-terrorism-widens-on-two-continents\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><\/h1>\n<h6>By SCOTT SHANE, MARK MAZZETTI and ROBERT F. WORTH<\/h6>\n<h6>Published: August 14, 2010<\/h6>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\nvar articleToolsShareData = {\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.nytimes.com\\\/2010\\\/08\\\/15\\\/world\\\/15shadowwar.html\",\"headline\":\"Secret Assault on Terrorism Widens on Two Continents\",\"description\":\"In a dozen countries \\u2014 including in North Africa, Pakistan and former Soviet republics \\u2014 the United States has significantly increased military and intelligence operations.\",\"keywords\":\"United States International Relations,Terrorism,United States Defense and Military Forces,Saleh  Ali Abdullah,Obama  Barack,Bush  George W,Al Qaeda,Central Intelligence Agency,Defense Department,Yemen,USSR (Former Soviet Union),Pakistan,Africa\",\"section\":\"world\",\"sub_section\":null,\"section_display\":\"World\",\"sub_section_display\":null,\"byline\":\"By SCOTT SHANE, MARK MAZZETTI and ROBERT F. WORTH\",\"pubdate\":\"August 14, 2010\",\"passkey\":null};\nfunction getShareURL() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.url);\n}\nfunction getShareHeadline() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.headline);\n}\nfunction getShareDescription() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.description);\n}\nfunction getShareKeywords() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.keywords);\n}\nfunction getShareSection() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.section);\n}\nfunction getShareSubSection() {\n\treturn encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.sub_section);\n}\nfunction getShareSectionDisplay() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.section_display);\n}\nfunction getShareSubSectionDisplay() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.sub_section_display);\n}\nfunction getShareByline() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.byline);\n}\nfunction getSharePubdate() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.pubdate);\n}\nfunction getSharePasskey() {\n    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.passkey);\n}\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>This article is by <strong><em>Scott Shane<\/em><\/strong>, <strong><em>Mark Mazzetti<\/em><\/strong> and <strong><em>Robert F. Worth<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><!--forceinline--><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Enlarge This Image<\/div>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/graphics8.nytimes.com\/images\/2010\/08\/15\/world\/15shadow\/15shadow-articleInline.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"190\" height=\"124\" \/> <\/div>\n<h6>Khaled Abdullah\/Reuters<\/h6>\n<p>White House officials worked to win support for their  efforts in Yemen from President Ali Abdullah Saleh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/graphics8.nytimes.com\/images\/2010\/08\/13\/world\/shadow_190.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Shadow War\" hspace=\"0\" vspace=\"0\" width=\"190\" height=\"19\" \/><\/h3>\n<div><!--h3>The Shadow War<\/h3-->\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/graphics8.nytimes.com\/images\/2010\/08\/15\/world\/15shadow\/15shadow-thumbStandard.jpg\" alt=\"The Shadow War\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" \/><\/div>\n<p><em>Expanding Battlefield<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Articles in this series will examine the secret expansion of the war against Al Qaeda and its allies.<\/p>\n<div>Series Page and Related Articles \u00bb<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h6>Multimedia<\/h6>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/graphics8.nytimes.com\/images\/2010\/08\/15\/world\/15shadowwarmap\/15shadowwarmap-thumbWide-v2.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" width=\"190\" height=\"126\" \/> Graphic <\/div>\n<h6> Attacking Al Qaeda in Yemen<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/graphics8.nytimes.com\/images\/2010\/08\/15\/world\/15shadowwarmap2\/15shadowwarmap2-thumbWide-v2.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" width=\"190\" height=\"126\" \/> Graphic <\/div>\n<h6> Counterterrorism Geography<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>Related<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h6><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/05\/25\/world\/25military.html?ref=world\"> U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Actions in Mideast<\/span> (May 25, 2010)<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h6><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/05\/16\/world\/16contractors.html?ref=world\"> U.S. Is Still Using Private Spy Ring, Despite Doubts<\/span> (May 16, 2010)<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h6><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/05\/09\/world\/09awlaki.html?ref=world\"> Imam\u2019s Path From Condemning Terror to Preaching Jihad<\/span> (May 9, 2010)<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h6><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/03\/15\/world\/asia\/15contractors.html?ref=world\"> Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militants<\/span> (March 15, 2010)<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h6>Times Topic: Al Qaeda<\/h6>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>Enlarge This Image<\/div>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/graphics8.nytimes.com\/images\/2010\/08\/15\/world\/15shadow2\/15shadow2-articleInline.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"190\" height=\"269\" \/> <\/div>\n<h6>Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/h6>\n<p>Yemeni tribesmen blew up a pipeline in June in Marib Province in retaliation for an attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 At first, the news from Yemen on May 25 sounded like a modest victory in the campaign against  terrorists: an airstrike had hit a group suspected of being operatives  for Al Qaeda in the remote desert of Marib Province, birthplace of the legendary queen of Sheba.<\/p>\n<p>But the strike, it turned out, had also killed the province\u2019s deputy  governor, a respected local leader who Yemeni officials said had been  trying to talk Qaeda members into giving up their fight. Yemen\u2019s  president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, accepted responsibility for the death and paid blood money to the offended tribes.<\/p>\n<p>The strike, though, was not the work of Mr. Saleh\u2019s decrepit Soviet-era  air force. It was a secret mission by the United States military,  according to American officials, at least the fourth such assault on Al  Qaeda in the arid mountains and deserts of Yemen since December.<\/p>\n<p>The attack offered a glimpse of the Obama administration\u2019s shadow war  against Al Qaeda and its allies. In roughly a dozen countries \u2014 from the  deserts of North Africa, to the mountains of Pakistan,  to former Soviet republics crippled by ethnic and religious strife \u2014  the United States has significantly increased military and intelligence  operations, pursuing the enemy using robotic drones and commando teams,  paying contractors to spy and training local operatives to chase  terrorists.<\/p>\n<p>The White House has intensified the Central Intelligence Agency\u2019s  drone missile campaign in Pakistan, approved raids against Qaeda  operatives in Somalia and launched clandestine operations from Kenya.  The administration has worked with European allies to dismantle  terrorist groups in North Africa, efforts that include a recent French  strike in Algeria. And the Pentagon  tapped a network of private  contractors to gather intelligence about things like militant hide-outs  in Pakistan and the location of an American soldier currently in Taliban hands.<\/p>\n<p>While the stealth war began in the Bush administration, it has expanded under President Obama,  who rose to prominence in part for his early opposition to the invasion  of Iraq. Virtually none of the newly aggressive steps undertaken by the  United States government have been publicly acknowledged. In contrast  with the troop buildup in Afghanistan, which came after months of robust  debate, for example, the American military campaign in Yemen began  without notice in December and has never been officially confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>Obama administration officials point to the benefits of bringing the  fight against Al Qaeda and other militants into the shadows. Afghanistan  and Iraq, they said, have sobered American politicians and voters about  the staggering costs of big wars that topple governments, require years  of occupation and can be a catalyst for further radicalization  throughout the Muslim world.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of \u201cthe hammer,\u201d in the words of John O. Brennan,  President Obama\u2019s top counterterrorism adviser, America will rely on  the \u201cscalpel.\u201d In a speech in May, Mr. Brennan, an architect of the  White House strategy, used this analogy while pledging a  \u201cmultigenerational\u201d campaign against Al Qaeda and its extremist  affiliates.<\/p>\n<p>Yet such wars come with many risks: the potential for botched operations  that fuel anti-American rage; a blurring of the lines between soldiers  and spies that could put troops at risk of being denied Geneva Convention protections; a weakening of the Congressional oversight system put in  place to prevent abuses by America\u2019s secret operatives; and a reliance  on authoritarian foreign leaders and surrogates with sometimes murky  loyalties.<\/p>\n<p>The May strike in Yemen, for example, provoked a revenge attack on an  oil pipeline by local tribesmen and produced a propaganda bonanza for Al  Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It also left President Saleh privately  furious about the death of the provincial official, Jabir al-Shabwani,  and scrambling to prevent an anti-American backlash, according to Yemeni  officials.<\/p>\n<p>The administration\u2019s demands have accelerated a transformation of the C.I.A.  into a paramilitary organization as much as a spying agency, which some  critics worry could lower the threshold for future quasi-military  operations. In Pakistan\u2019s mountains, the agency had broadened its drone  campaign beyond selective strikes against Qaeda leaders and now  regularly obliterates suspected enemy compounds and logistics convoys,  just as the military would grind down an enemy force.<\/p>\n<p>For its part, the Pentagon is becoming more like the C.I.A.  Across the Middle East and elsewhere, Special Operations troops under  secret \u201cExecute Orders\u201d have conducted spying missions that were once  the preserve of civilian intelligence agencies. With code names like  Eager Pawn and Indigo Spade, such programs typically operate with even  less transparency and Congressional oversight than traditional covert  actions by the C.I.A.<\/p>\n<p>And, as American counterterrorism operations spread beyond war zones  into territory hostile to the military, private contractors have taken  on a prominent role, raising concerns that the United States has  outsourced some of its most important missions to a sometimes  unaccountable private army.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Proving Ground<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yemen is a testing ground for the \u201cscalpel\u201d approach Mr. Brennan  endorses. Administration officials warn of the growing strength of Al  Qaeda\u2019s affiliate there, citing as evidence its attempt on Dec. 25 to  blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner using a young Nigerian operative. Some  American officials believe that militants in Yemen could now pose an  even greater threat than Al Qaeda\u2019s leadership in Pakistan.<\/p>\n<div id=\"pageLinks\">\n<ul id=\"pageNumbers\">\n<li> 1<\/li>\n<li> <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/08\/15\/world\/15shadowwar.html?pagewanted=2&amp;_r=1&amp;th&amp;emc=th\">2<\/span><\/li>\n<li> <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/08\/15\/world\/15shadowwar.html?pagewanted=3&amp;_r=1&amp;th&amp;emc=th\">3<\/span><\/li>\n<li> <span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/08\/15\/world\/15shadowwar.html?pagewanted=4&amp;_r=1&amp;th&amp;emc=th\">4<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"removed_link\" title=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/08\/15\/world\/15shadowwar.html?pagewanted=2&amp;_r=1&amp;th&amp;emc=th\">Next Page \u00bb<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Muhammad al-Ahmadi contributed reporting from Yemen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Correction: August 14, 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An  earlier version of this article misstated that Micah Zenko was still at  the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. Mr. Zenko, a fellow at the  Council on Foreign Relations, is no longer at the Kennedy School.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><input id=\"gwProxy\" type=\"hidden\" \/><input id=\"jsProxy\" onclick=\"if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setTimeout('jsCall()',500);}\" type=\"hidden\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By SCOTT SHANE, MARK MAZZETTI and ROBERT F. WORTH Published: August 14, 2010 This article is by Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti and Robert F. Worth. Enlarge This Image Khaled Abdullah\/Reuters White House officials worked to win support for their efforts in Yemen from President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Expanding Battlefield Articles in this series will examine [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":783498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[128],"class_list":["post-21336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","tag-terrorism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}