The Wech Baghtu wedding party airstrike refers to the killing of about 37 Afghan civilians, mostly women and children, and injuring about 27 others by a United States military airstrike on 3 November 2008.

Obama was sworn in three months later.

And there was a lot of press about that. There was even over-the-air evening news back then that reported that. That was Bush II. The link doesn’t even substantiate your claim.

Oh, ok makes sense. I don’t think this is the whole story because they tease an interview about it at the end, but no other link.

Essentially, Yemen arrested him for “being Al Queda” or some such, and when that fell through the Yemeni president was going to release him until supposedly Obama personally called him to hold off. There aren’t any sources for these things, but Al Jazeera says this.

It doesn’t seem like it was about suppressing the story of the bombing, but maybe. In general it was widely reported.

Abdulelah Haider Shaye wrote a letter from prison last week making clear who he blames for his detention.

“It’s inaccurate to say the Americans imprisoned me because some of them defended and supported me and opposed my detention. Actually, the only person responsible for kidnapping and detaining me is Obama. So, I don’t want the media to say America or Americans have incarcerated me because it’s obvious [who is responsible].”

Yemen is an incredibly poor and small country that is under tremendous pressure from the United States .... So for Yemen to defy the United States on this would be an extraordinary act.

BY JEREMY SCAHILL , A NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT FOR THE NATION MAGAZINE 

And during his trial, Shaye condemned the strikes on civilians whose aftermath he had witnessed first hand.

“When they hid murderers of children and women in Abyan, when I revealed the locations and camps of nomads and civilians in Abyan, Shabwa and Arhab when they were going to be hit by cruise missiles, it was on that day that they decided to arrest me. You notice in the court how … all of my journalistic contributions and quotations to international reporters and news channels have been turned into accusations. Yemen, this is the place where, when a young journalist becomes successful, he is viewed with suspicion.”

So, why did Obama personally intervene to ensure the Yemeni journalist’s incarceration?

Inside Story Americas, with presenter Shihab Rattanssi, discusses this issue with guests: Jeremy Scahill, a National Security Correspondent for the Nation Magazine and Paul Eaton, a retired Major General with the US military who commanded operations to train Iraqi troops between 2003 and 2004 and who is currently a special adviser to the National Security Network, a think-tank in Washington DC.