While the number air raids over Libya currently totals 11.500 [1] and that NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has asked member countries to up their military expenses and war effort, the conflict is spreading throughout the Middle-East region and North Africa in less visible ways but not less dangerous, which open continuously new fronts. According to a CIA officer quoted by the New York Times, the Agency is building a secret base in the Middle-East to launch attacks in Yemen with armed drones. These are Predator/Reaper (already in action in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya) armed with 14 Hellfire missiles, remote-controlled from a base in Nevada 10,000 Km away.

Since he took office, President Obama "has drastically increased the CIA’s bombing campaign in Pakistan, with armed drones", the same that will be used to "expand the war to Yemen." The administration views them as "the ideal weapon to hunt down and kill activists in countries where there is no significant American military presence."

In Yemen, the USSOCOM / Unified Combatant Command for worldwide Special Operations has already swung into action, assisted by the CIA and with the endorsement of the executive power of Sanaa. However, in view of the "weakness of this authoritarian government," the Obama administration is worried about a future government that may not be in a position, or willing, to support American operations. It has therefore entrusted the CIA with the responsiblity of building a secret base in an undisclosed Middle East location from where "secret actions can be carried out without the backing of the host government".

This confirms that the Obama administration is intensifying the secret war using all possible avenues. As officially stated by USSOCOM, this includes: direct action to destroy targets, eliminate or capture enemies; non-conventional war conducted by external forces, trained and overseen by USSOCOM; counter-insurgency to help allied governments quell rebellions; psychological operations to influence foreign public opinion in favour of U.S. military actions. These operations are led using more and more advanced technologies.

Within this scope, Obama made public through the New York Times his decision to create on a global scale "shadow internet and mobile phone networks to be used by dissidents in order to get around government censorship." The Pentagon and the State Department have already laid out at least 50 million dollars on the project.

These networks are established through the deployment of small special suitcases which, once brought into a given country, enable communication with abroad via computers and cell phones, in wireless and coded modes, thereby avoiding surveillance and government bans.

Washington’s official motive is "to defend freedom of speech and to promote democray." Shadow networks are only provided to dissident groups to serve the strategy of the United States (in Syria, Iran and other countries). They are controlled by Washington and are especially designed to disseminate
doctored information to the media for psychologial operations meant to prepare public opinion for new wars.

"C.I.A. Building Base for Strikes in Yemen", by Mark Mazzetti, The New York Times, 14 June 2011.

Source: Il Manifesto