U.S. Widens Assaults on Terrorism

Top-secret American air strikes—like the one in Yemen on May 25—are becoming a more routine occurrence in the United States’ growing war on terror. About a dozen countries in Africa and Asia have seen increased U.S. military and intelligence operations this year, according to The New York Times. Whether using robotic drones, commando teams, local operatives, or contractors, the government’s stealth hunt for al Qaeda and other militants has intensified. With such actions come risks, too: botched efforts, weak oversight, even abuse. Often unnoticed by the media, such changes have been profound. “The Pentagon is becoming more like the CIA,” writes in the Times. “Across the Middle East and elsewhere, Special Operations troops under secret ‘execute orders’ have conducted spying missions that were once the preserve of civilian intelligence agencies.”