Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Deploying Killer Drones in Yemen Will Make Us All Less Safe
This week's suicide bomb in Sana'a came as no surprise here in Yemen. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been threatening an attack on Sana'a for some time now. But it may be something of a surprise to many Americans that many Yemenis would cite U.S. activity here as a root cause of the attack.
It is of course oversimplification to blame AQAP's terrorism on U.S. intervention. Yet one of the grievances long expressed against Yemen's leadership is the extent to which it bends to U.S. counter-terrorism demands at the expense of its own people. Thanks to escalating drone attacks, U.S. counter-terrorism here is becoming steadily more visible, deadly and terrifying to ordinary Yemenis. Unless U.S. strategy changes, I fear we have only seen the beginning of these tragedies.
I spent yesterday in a small walled garden in Sana'a's Central Prison, visiting U.S. citizen Sharif Mobley, an early casualty of the U.S.'s activity in Yemen. His wife and kids were with me. For the first time in two years, Sharif was allowed to hoist his daughter on his shoulders to pick an apricot, and tip his son on a seesaw. His story -- that of an innocent man seized trying to bring his family home -- exposes the recklessness of U.S. counter-terrorism strategy here.
Sharif had been in Sana'a since 2008 with his family, studying Arabic and Islam, when he visited the U.S. Embassy to request a passport for his newborn son. U.S. agents had Sharif followed home, and shortly afterwards he was kidnapped in his own neighborhood. Two white vans pulled up and a gang in balaclavas leapt out, shot Sharif in the leg, and carted him off to a hospital. There he was chained to the bed and blindfolded nearly 24 hours a day.
It is of course oversimplification to blame AQAP's terrorism on U.S. intervention. Yet one of the grievances long expressed against Yemen's leadership is the extent to which it bends to U.S. counter-terrorism demands at the expense of its own people. Thanks to escalating drone attacks, U.S. counter-terrorism here is becoming steadily more visible, deadly and terrifying to ordinary Yemenis. Unless U.S. strategy changes, I fear we have only seen the beginning of these tragedies.
I spent yesterday in a small walled garden in Sana'a's Central Prison, visiting U.S. citizen Sharif Mobley, an early casualty of the U.S.'s activity in Yemen. His wife and kids were with me. For the first time in two years, Sharif was allowed to hoist his daughter on his shoulders to pick an apricot, and tip his son on a seesaw. His story -- that of an innocent man seized trying to bring his family home -- exposes the recklessness of U.S. counter-terrorism strategy here.
Sharif had been in Sana'a since 2008 with his family, studying Arabic and Islam, when he visited the U.S. Embassy to request a passport for his newborn son. U.S. agents had Sharif followed home, and shortly afterwards he was kidnapped in his own neighborhood. Two white vans pulled up and a gang in balaclavas leapt out, shot Sharif in the leg, and carted him off to a hospital. There he was chained to the bed and blindfolded nearly 24 hours a day.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cori-crider/yemen-drones_b_1545105.html
