Amid yet another official report of a US-led drone strike in the eastern province this Thursday, 2011 Nobel Peace prize laureate, Tawakkol Karman took to the air to voice her concerns.
Karman a long-standing advocate for human rights and civil liberties vehemently criticized the use of drones in Yemen on her Facebook page, noting that drones stood in clear violation of Yemen' s laws. "Drones are a disregard for the Yemeni people and violate humanitarian values and principles."
Although maybe the first activist to openly oppose Yemen and America counter-terror strategy in the wake of the on-going largest terror alert ever set in place declared in the impoverished nation, Karman is far from being alone in her argument.
For months local and international rights groups: CODE PINK, HOOD, Human Rights Firts, Amnesty International and many others, have rose in protest of drones, advancing that the ravages against innocent populations drones were known to be responsible for far outweigh their use in targeting elusive al-Qaeda militants.
Testifying before the Senate in April 2013 Farea al-Muslimi (A Yemeni journalist) was unequivocal, "The US thinks it understands Yemen but the drones have been one of the most effective tools for AQAP to succeed in Yemen. A big part of al-Qaeda power at the moment is convincing Yemenis that they are in a war with America, (that) America is attacking the sovereignty of Yemen and this government is non-legitimate."
Yet, the Obama administration continues to defend its anti-terror policy in Yemen and the region, saying that drones were America's best bet against al-Qaeda; something Yemenis tend to strongly disagree with.
Question is now, will Yemen government choose to radicalize its drone approach in the light of al-Qaeda's latest terror stunt or will it look for other avenues, more in keeping with its people wishes?
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