Selected assasinations:
A new war strategy?

A new element reflecting the evolving nature of the US war on terrorism; assassinations.

We'll take a look at one such strike in Yemen, that is raising questions and concerns.

In mid November, President George W Bush gave broad authority to US officials to launch attacks like the one in Yemen which killed six al-Qaeda suspects.

In that attack the CIA used a robot warplane to track a suspect Al-Qaeda vehicle in a remote corner of Yemen.

At the command of the plane's ground controller, a missile was fired, killing everyone inside the vehicle.

US officials insist, this type of strategy raised no constitutional issues, given the "new kind of war" the US is fighting.

But some felt the attack, which amounted to selected assassination, opened up a controversial chapter, in the war on terror.

In the November 4th strike in Yemen, an unmanned CIA-operated eye-in-the-sky Predator aircraft fired a missile destroying a car carrying 6 men.

The men including major suspect Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, were said to have been responsible for the bombing of an Aerican warship in Aden harbour two years ago.

Professor Bilveer Singh Political Scientist, NUS commented, "The danger of this policy is this. When you undertake a Predator type of killing, it's killing from the air. In the case of Afghanistan what came out very clearly was this. The US intelligence was not always good. They made terrible blunders on the ground. They would attack, assuming that there was an Al Qaeda or Taliban member on the ground and it turned out to be wrong. And the result was massive civilian casualties. In the case of Yemen because of the isolated place, there was almost zero civilian casualties. But when this thing becomes policy and given the green light then I tell you it's going to backfire you know. In terms of revulsion within the US, around the world, and I think it's going to provoke more terrorism."

In the war on Iraq, experts have little doubt assassinations will be among the methods used by the Americans, to achieve their aims as fast as possible.

But if not used carefully and selectively, it could mean damaging America's long term public relations.