As the US escalates its military operations, we ask if it can afford to ignore Yemen’s political and economic problems.
As Yemen grapples with the challenges of a fragile political transition, the US has escalated its military operations in the country.
|
“We have to be very measured in the way that we go about this. Because if we are too heavy-handed, if the approach is too broad then we risk creating more enemies than in fact we are eliminating.“ – Robert Grenier, a former counter-terrorism official at the CIA |
Since 2001, hundreds of people have been killed in US drone strikes in Yemen – dozens of them civilians. But, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a not-for-profit organisation based at City University in London, there has been a surge in US military activity in the country since pro-democracy protests began in 2011.
In the last two weeks, there have been 10 suspected US drone strikes. The latest, on Tuesday, reportedly killed at least 12 civilians.
Drone strikes have been a central part of the US’ covert wars in both Pakistan and Yemen.
An estimated 322 drone strikes have been carried out in Pakistan, killing approximately 3,000 people, since 2004, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
But over the past year, the focus has appeared to shift to Yemen.
Robert Mueller, the director of the FBI, said last week that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen, is the biggest terrorist threat facing the US.
|
“It is risky and indeed there will be bad consequences if we are not careful and we start hitting innocent civilians …. The options in this case, none of them are good. And the option of not going after these people, I think is something that you cannot expect the US government to do.“ – David Newton, a former US ambassador to Yemen |
Last week, the Pentagon announced that it had resumed sending troops to, it says, “train” Yemeni forces. The US military said it suspended such programmes during the uprising against the country’s longtime former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
But despite this increased focus on Yemen, al-Qaeda’s presence continues to grow there. The US says the group now has more than 1,000 members – more than three times the estimate for 2009.
Washington has thrown its weight behind Yemen’s current transitional government, which faces multiple challenges – including maintaining a fragile consensus between those loyal to the former president, members of the opposition and the country’s various tribal groups. It must also contend with independence movements in the north and the south of the country.
In addition to this, there are social and economic problems. According to the UN, about 44 per cent of Yemenis are food insecure. And in the last two months, unrest across the country has led to the displacement of 95,000 people.
So can the US afford to ignore Yemen’s larger political and economic problems while pursuing its covert military strategy? And what will be the consequences of this covert war?
Inside Story Americas, with presenter Shihab Rattansi, discusses with guests: Jeremy Scahill, a national security correspondent at the Nation Magazine; David Newton, a former US ambassador to Yemen; and Robert Grenier, a former counter-terrorism official at the CIA.
|
“We are actually making America less safe in our response in Yemen right now …. Our own policies, the drone strikes, the support for a corrupt regime, the lack of any substantial funding for civilian infrastructure … then all the money that’s needed for counter-terrorism, supporting military units in Yemen that are perceived as being the Saleh family military rather than the national military has sparked a response of blowback where you now have a situation Jeremy Scahill, a national security correspondent at the Nation Magazine |
FACTS:
The US’ covert war in Yemen:
Yemen’s socio-economic problems:
US aid to Yemen: