Monday, April 11, 2011

Dear Mr. President,

You know what gets my goat? Your sanctimonious speechifying about people’s “aspirations” while you continue to support dictators who murder and suppress their citizens. Dictators like Ali bin Abdullah Saleh of Yemen (whose friend and mentor was none other than Saddam Hussein) because he lets us fly Predator drones, launch missiles against suspected al Qaeda fighters, and covers up our mistakes and atrocities like the December 17, 2009 attack that flattened a remote village thought to be an al Qaeda training camp. According to the official version, 34 militants were killed, but it was subsequently revealed that 14 fighters were killed along with 41 civilians, 23 of them children. Photographs of the village released by Amnesty International showed the propulsion unit from a Tomahawk Cruise missile along with a cluster bomb. And it doesn’t stop there. The Yemeni journalist, Abdulelah Hider Shaea, who uncovered the true story of civilian casualties and American involvement in the attack, was arrested, accused of collaborating with al Qaeda, convicted on thin evidence and put in prison. When journalists demanded Shaea’s release, Saleh announced he would, but you, Mr. President, personally intervened, expressed “concern” about Shaea’s release and so, he remains in prison. Last year you authorized $150 million to train Yemeni security forces in counterterrorism–these same forces massacred demonstrators in Sanaa, snipers stationed on rooftops picked them off with headshots, killing 52 in one day and wounding hundreds more. You also significantly increased “aid” to Yemen, almost all of which goes into the pockets of Saleh and his family (“The government in Sanaa makes even the Karzai regime…seem like a model of propriety.” The New Yorker, April 11) Since January 15 when a 32-year old woman named Tawakkol Karman, gathered some friends together in the square in front of Sanaa University and began a non-violent movement to oust Saleh and institute a democratic government, you have turned your back on them You neither acknowledge them nor call on Saleh to step down. As a senior official in your administration puts it: “Our goal is to prevent a coup or a usurpation of power by Muslim Brotherhood types or by Al Qaeda.” The same myopic misperceptions of your predecessor. Every day the War on Terror continues, more innocents are killed and the “aspirations” of people are denied. And who is responsible? Take a long hard look in the mirror, Mr. President.