The Aftermath of Drone Strikes on a Wedding Convoy in Yemen
By Christine Hauser
December 19, 2013
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http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/the-aftermath-of-drone-strikes-on-a-wedding-convoy-in-yemen/
After a U.S. drone strike that killed 11 people in a wedding convoy in Yemen, the drone program in Yemen has come under scrutiny. The objective of the program is to eliminate al-Qaeda officials and militants in Yemen. The program has been successful in doing that, but there has been a lot of collateral damage with the deaths of civilians. Children and bystanders are often killed as a result of the missile strikes and this has led to humanitarian and government action. The Yemeni government has voted to ban the use of drone strikes in Yemen to try to fix this issue, but that still leaves the issue of the presence of al-Qaeda in the country.
The issue of drone strikes is a complicated one. There is the argument that it eliminates terrorist leader and helps protect the U.S. and Yemen from these threats, but there is also the argument that another threat is brought in as a result. Obviously, with any war (and this IS a war, one against terrorism,) there comes causalities. This has been a widely known fact since the dawn of war, but I don't think that it is acceptable for the U.S. to be the cause of civilian casualties. I do think that Yemen is on track to deal with the issue of the presence of al-Qaeda in the country, though, because of their recent banning of drone flying in Yemeni airspace. Hopefully this will be the first step in Yemen taking care of this issue.
This article and issue relates to political life in Yemen for a myriad of reasons. First off, Yemen is a young country, only being established in 1990, and it needs to learn how to work for itself and take care of its own issues. Second, Yemen has a problem in that al-Qaeda has a large presence there. This is an issue for this country, because it affects its global reputation and the safety of its citizens. These incidents have hopefully sparked a new flame of strength in Yemen.
Click Here to read this article:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/the-aftermath-of-drone-strikes-on-a-wedding-convoy-in-yemen/
After a U.S. drone strike that killed 11 people in a wedding convoy in Yemen, the drone program in Yemen has come under scrutiny. The objective of the program is to eliminate al-Qaeda officials and militants in Yemen. The program has been successful in doing that, but there has been a lot of collateral damage with the deaths of civilians. Children and bystanders are often killed as a result of the missile strikes and this has led to humanitarian and government action. The Yemeni government has voted to ban the use of drone strikes in Yemen to try to fix this issue, but that still leaves the issue of the presence of al-Qaeda in the country.
The issue of drone strikes is a complicated one. There is the argument that it eliminates terrorist leader and helps protect the U.S. and Yemen from these threats, but there is also the argument that another threat is brought in as a result. Obviously, with any war (and this IS a war, one against terrorism,) there comes causalities. This has been a widely known fact since the dawn of war, but I don't think that it is acceptable for the U.S. to be the cause of civilian casualties. I do think that Yemen is on track to deal with the issue of the presence of al-Qaeda in the country, though, because of their recent banning of drone flying in Yemeni airspace. Hopefully this will be the first step in Yemen taking care of this issue.
This article and issue relates to political life in Yemen for a myriad of reasons. First off, Yemen is a young country, only being established in 1990, and it needs to learn how to work for itself and take care of its own issues. Second, Yemen has a problem in that al-Qaeda has a large presence there. This is an issue for this country, because it affects its global reputation and the safety of its citizens. These incidents have hopefully sparked a new flame of strength in Yemen.