…..when you visit a barbershop, need a haircut.
We at the TPI are not war mongers. We are very about the business of dealing with enemies when enemies deserve any level of action necessary to eliminate them as an enemy.
If you think such is outside the scope of liberalism, think about the kidnappers in Nigeria and also think about the equally heinous Timothy McVeigh. Bad actors who would have been candidates for eliminated as physical beings well before their heinous acts.
Last month, I recall hearing a report of two Yemeni men shot dead by American officials assigned to US operations in Yemen. As is often the case with remote and vague reporting two things took place. My initial reaction to the story was a reserved thought of why are we even in these countries. In hindsight, I should have considered the need for vague reporting. Another brain exercise related to actions that led to the shooting. The latter cognitive process, albeit latent ,was probably ‘dead-on’ and apropos.
Media is reporting the dead Yemenis were Al Qaeda affiliated and may have been part of a scheme to kidnap foreign nationals. If you have preference for the quick read, the two Americans who shot the Yemeni men work respectively for the CIA and a “special operations commando.” Apparently, one of the US officials sought personal grooming via a haircut. As I read the following stories, the thoughts of good fortune, both officials were not seated in the barber’s chair.
After I finished reading the following pieces and viewing the short video, my thoughts again turned to another Al Qaeda affiliated group that kidnapped 276 school girls. What is it about (alleged Islamic) fighters that leads to kidnap as an acceptable form of warfare?
AoL
May 11th 2014 9:16AM
SANAA, Yemen (AP) – One of the two officers at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen who shot and killed a pair of suspected al-Qaida gunmen was getting a haircut at a barbershop when the attempted abduction took place, Yemeni security officials said Sunday.
The attempted kidnapping April 24 is the latest evidence of al-Qaida’s expanding presence in the capital, a serious challenge to the authority of the already weak central government. It also could strain ties between Yemen and the U.S., which has launched an aggressive campaign of drone strikes against suspected al-Qaida fighters in the country.
The barbershop, owned by a longtime Indian resident, is on Heda Street, a commercial road in the southern part of the city where some of Sanaa’s best restaurants, supermarkets and high-end boutiques are located.
The Yemeni officials said the armed militants arrived in a battered SUV and burst into the shop shouting: “Police! Police!” The officials said one of the two Americans was having his hair cut, while the second waited for his turn.
They said one of the Americans killed both militants before the pair jumped into their waiting SUV and drove off. Owners of nearby stores rushed to the barbershop on hearing the gunshots but the Americans already had left, the officials said.
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The Bulletin
By Shuaib Almosawa and Eric Schmitt / New York Times News Service
Published May 11, 2014 at 12:01AM
We are not allowed to post the piece. If you want to read a good accounting of the foiled kidnapping attempt, The Bulletin posted a great piece. We are unable to share The Bulletin piece. We have linked the piece here.
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Wopular
SANAA, Yemen — The kidnappers pulled up in a pickup truck outside the Taj barbershop in an upscale neighborhood here in the Yemeni capital. One held an AK-47 assault rifle and the other carried a stun gun. As the men went inside, nearby shopkeepers heard shots.
Then a foreigner — tall, with the physique of a body builder, and holding a black gun — was seen standing over one of the mortally wounded attackers in the doorway of the barbershop, witnesses said. The foreigner kicked an automatic weapon out of the man’s hands, looked right and left down the street, jumped into a nearby sport utility vehicle and drove away.
Those new details emerged Saturday about a shooting last month in which the Obama administration said two Americans from the United States Embassy killed two armed Yemenis who were trying to kidnap them from the barbershop.
Continue reading the main story
While much about the encounter remains unclear, a Yemeni official said Saturday that the two Yemeni assailants were part of a cell linked to Al Qaeda that had planned and executed several attacks on foreigners in the country. Whether by design or chance, the official said, the Americans had apparently disrupted a kidnapping ring that government officials blame for killing a Frenchman last week, kidnapping a Dutch couple last year, trying to assassinate a German diplomat last month, and attacking the central prison here in February, freeing 19 inmates.
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(via NewsLook)
Video News by NewsLook A Yemeni official said two armed men fatally shot by U.S. Embassy staff at a Sana’a barbershop last month are linked to a regional Al Qaeda branch.
The Pardu's Scroll 