Recent U.S. Interventions in Pakistan

From today's Democracy Now headlines:
1. U.S. drones have killed at least 45 people in multiple strikes in northwest Pakistan over the past 24 hours. It marks the second-largest death toll in a single day since the U.S. drone campaign began in Pakistan in 2004. The deadly attacks came just a day after the Obama administration announced an $800 million delay in military assistance amid worsening U.S.-Pakistan ties.

2. The Guardian newspaper has revealed the CIA organized a fake vaccination program in the Pakistani town where it believed Osama bin Laden was hiding in an elaborate attempt to gain access to his compound and to obtain DNA from the al-Qaeda leader’s family. A senior Pakistani doctor who was recruited by the CIA for the project is now being held in Pakistan after being arrested by the Inter-Services Intelligence for cooperating with U.S. intelligence agents. One nurse involved in the project reportedly gained access to the bin Laden compound. Before entering, she was instructed to take in a handbag that was fitted with an electronic device. It is not clear what the device was.

seven anti-government protesters were arrested and beaten by Iraqi security forces as hundreds of angry demonstrators gathered Friday in central Baghdad

Democracy Now! | Headlines for July 11, 2011
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/11/headlines#6

• Iraqi Forces Beat, Detain at Least Seven Protesters Following Demonstrations 

  In Iraq, CNN reports at least seven anti-government protesters were arrested and beaten by Iraqi security forces as hundreds of angry demonstrators gathered Friday in central Baghdad. Since early February, tens of thousands of protesters have participated in demonstrations every Friday across Iraq, inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

Slowly changing US approach to Saleh's regime in Yemen.

so the news about Yemen today:

The Obama administration sent counterterrorism chief, John Brennan, to Saudi Arabia to meet with embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh over the weekend. Brennan is presumed to have urged Saleh not to return to power, suggesting aid to the Middle East’s poorest nation will resume only if he steps down. Brennan reportedly urged Saleh to sign a pledge drafted by the Gulf Cooperation Council that would see the Yemeni president relinquishing control of Yemen in exchange for immunity. Saleh has been receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia for serious injuries he sustained in a rocket attack on his compound weeks ago and has yet to return to Yemen. The United States has long supported Saleh’s authoritarian rule over the past 33 years.

Our complicated involvement with Saleh's regime has entailed him acting, to some degree, as a proxy for US policy in the region by such actions as taking credit for US drone strikes or holding journalists in prison at the request of President Obama.

here are a couple pieces of music from Yemen.

YouTube - ‪Mohamed Hassan - Lesh beta محمد حسن - ليش بطى‬‏

YouTube - ‪Mohamed Hassan - Lesh beta محمد حسن - ليش بطى‬‏: ""

YouTube - ‪Ahmed Fakroun - Soleil Soleil‬‏

YouTube - ‪Ahmed Fakroun - Soleil Soleil‬‏: ""

YouTube - ‪Ahmed fakroun أحمد فكرون : حلوة الصورة‬‏

YouTube - ‪Ahmed fakroun أحمد فكرون : حلوة الصورة‬‏: ""

Democracy Now! | Headlines for July 07, 2011

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/7/7/headlines#1

• At least 14 civilians have been killed in a US-led NATO bombing in Afghanistan. The dead included eight children. The attack in the eastern province of Khost is believed to the deadliest by the US-led occupation force against Afghan civilians this year.
• The new killings come just one day after hundreds of people rallied in the Afghan province of Ghazni to protest a NATO bombing that killed two civilians earlier this week. Protesters carried their bodies to the provincial capital, shouting slogans denouncing foreign troops. 

• In Libya, rebels have seized a key town in the country’s northwestern mountains, moving them one step closer to securing a strategic road that would allow access to the capital city of Tripoli. The town of al-Qawalish was seized after a six-hour battle. Tens of thousands of opposition supporters filled the streets in the rebel-held city of Benghazi to celebrate the victory. Meanwhile NATO warplanes continue to pound Libya with airstrikes. Of 140 air sorties carried out on Wednesday, NATO says nearly half were strike missions.