Thousands have taken to the streets of Yemen to protest deadly US drone strikes which killed dozens of people over the last two weeks, Iranian media reported. Critics say Washington’s secretive policy is only pushing Yemenis to favor radical groups.
Anti-US demonstrations held in several cities across Yemen over
the weekend gathered thousands of people, FARS news agency
reported.
The Yemeni capital of Sana’a on Saturday saw crowds of chanting
protesters outraged by the American policy of targeted killings.
Protesters said the attacks, which are carried out by means of
remotely controlled unmanned aerial vehicles – otherwise known as
drones – frequently kill innocent civilians instead of militants.
According to Press TV, the Houthi movement has been among those
actively protesting. Members of the group say they are
“campaigning to raise public awareness” on how the US
drone policy affects the safety of Yemenis and the country’s
stability. The Houthis are members of the religious Zaidi Shia
group which is known for its anti-government and anti-American
views, as well as its anti-Al-Qaeda sentiments.
Condemning what they call a “US intervention,” many of the
protesters in Yemen also believe the strikes blatantly violate
the country’s sovereignty, and demand their own government to
stop supporting foreign interests.
However, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s August visit to
Washington showed that the Yemeni government only keeps
strengthening ties with the US. Hadi’s visit also coincided with
a surge in US drone strikes on suspected members of the
Yemen-based militant group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
(AQAP).
At least 37 people were killed in drone strikes in Yemen during
two first weeks of August, with locals claiming that many of them
were civilians.
Since 2002, US drone strikes in Yemen have claimed the lives of
up to 860 people, according to the British Bureau of
Investigative Journalism. Most of the strikes were carried out
under President Obama. It could not be verified how many of those
killed were in fact Al-Qaeda militants.
In September 2012, one such strike in eastern Yemen killed 13
civilians, including women and children. Several US officials
were quoted as saying the drone apparently missed the intended
target, but no official apology or acknowledgement of the mistake
followed.
According to locals, representatives of AQAP offer to pay the
funeral costs of those killed and heolp rebuild destroyed
buildings.
Yahya Qasseb bin Sahl, a law professor at Aden University, told
Reuters that he believes the drone strikes “channel the Yemeni
street’s feelings in favor of Al-Qaeda.” Moreover, the
ramped-up attacks will inevitably affect President Hadi’s
popularity, he added.
Increasingly more Yemenis have become disillusioned with Hadi’s
foreign policy, some viewing it as a direct continuation of the
agenda of his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was forced to
step down after 33 years of power during Yemen’s Arab Spring
uprising of 2011.
Washington’s humanitarian support and military aid is indeed
crucial for Hadi, as the country is still struggling with its
weak oil-dependent economy, rampant unemployment, and lacking
security forces. The US allocated $345 million to Yemen in 2012
and is expected to give another $250 million in both 2013 and
2014.
‘Much more than a security threat’
Not all senior Yemeni politicians believe that the US drone
program is actually capable of reaching its goal in fighting the
Al-Qaeda threat. There is no way the targeted strikes alone could
be a “viable solution” to the problem of terrorism, Rajeh
Badi, an advisor to Yemen’s prime minister, told RT.
“It does not simply come down to how many deaths have been
caused by the drones… A successful strategy cannot rely on sheer
military force alone, because it is much more than a security
threat,” Badi said.
He added that if drone strikes were capable of putting an end to
terrorism, it would have already been extinguished in countries
like Pakistan and Iraq.
“The underlying causes of terrorism are in the political,
social, educational, and mostly economic problems of our country.
We believe that bloodshed can only lead to more bloodshed,
therefore drone strikes cannot be a viable solution to this
problem,” the government official said.
US public deprived of ‘informed decision’ on drones
Recent US surveys claim to be showing that as many as 65 percent
of Americans support the use of drones to kill suspected
militants abroad, while roughly the same percentage of people
oppose such strikes at home.
But public opinion would be different if Washington were to
reveal the details of its “secret war” on terror, policy
director at Just Foreign Policy Robert Naiman told RT.
According to Naiman, “American people aren’t getting the
information they would need to come to an informed decision”
on whether the foreign drone strike program is legal and
constitutional.
The Obama administration is refusing to disclose even the most
basic information, like “who are we fighting, how many people
have been killed, how many civilians have been killed, what’s a
legal justification,” he stressed.
Adding to the clampdown on information and crackdown on
whistleblowers, this secrecy “makes it much harder for the
media to do their jobs” in bringing a complete picture of the
drone warfare to the people, Naiman believes.