“take reports of female casualties with a grain of salt. Not all female casualties are civilian casualties. In many cases, and certainly in this one, females can be legitimate combatants."The excuse fell flat. In fact just last September, al-Qaeda criticized ISIS in its online magazine for allowing women to take part in combat.Finally, after rounds of denial and cockamamie stories, the Pentagon came clean. In a statement late this afternoon, the US Central Command admitted that "a team designated by the operational task force commander has concluded regrettably that civilian non-combatants were likely killed in the midst of a firefight during a raid in Yemen Jan. 20. Casualties may include children."The Pentagon continued to insist, however, that there were women engaged in combat during the firefight.We should recall that while the US claims it is attacking Yemen because of al-Qaeda's presence in the country, the US has strongly backed Saudi Arabia's war on the Shia-related Houthis who are mortal enemies of the Sunni jihadist al-Qaeda.In fact, the US war in Yemen looks more like a US proxy war against Iran - a proxy war that may soon become a real war. Just today the President Trump's National Security Advisor warned Iran over a Houthi retaliatory strike on a Saudi warship off of Yemen's coast. Blaming Iran for the Houthi attack on a Saudi warship is bogus: as investigative reporter Gareth Porter pointed out today , even the US intelligence community has rejected the notion that the Houthis are an Iran proxy.War goes on it never ends...