CIA to Launch Drone Strikes in Yemen

The Daily Beast reports:

Here we go again. Officials said Monday that the CIA is preparing to launch predator drone strikes in Yemen to kill al Qaeda militant, taking advantage of that country’s power vacuum. The U.S. previously has operated strikes against militants in Yemen—the country is home to the radical American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki—but these were conducted with the knowledge of Yemen’s government. The CIA program will have different legal restrictions, and will be modeled after the Pakistan strikes—conducted without express permission of the country. The CIA program was originally slated to begin in July, but officials say it has been pushed back a few weeks due to logistical concerns. Washington is worried that Yemen’s power vacuum will allow radical al Qaeda militants to come to power.