Limit not reached? [Archives:2002/47/Viewpoint]

Last week, a personal American friend called me asking, “How many items have come up in the official press condemning the US-strike against the 6 men in Mareb?” I quickly skimmed through the various government and pro-government Yemeni newspapers searching for any simple sign of any condemnation. But I found no condemnation whatsoever.
All I found was a wave of accusations against the opposition for condemning the US-strike and accusations that it has become ‘disloyal to the country’s national interests’, ‘advantageous’, etc.
My American friend expected that the government newspapers would at least have one item criticizing this US move, just as many international publications did, including US publications. But that wasn’t the case.
All the government did was accusing the ‘terrorist’ elements in the country of causing instability and insecurity and blaming the opposition for supporting those elements.
I wonder how a Yemeni living in the US would feel when he sees some of the US pro-human rights organizations criticizing the US for this action, while knowing that the Yemeni government does not even admit that it was a US strike.
What has happened to our pride and national integrity?
How can the government justify its stance?
If the government cannot speak up against the US for the killing of 6 Yemenis, it should have at least kept silent when others wanted to condemn this action. Why did it then blast at the opposition for standing for a moment of truth in speaking its mind?
We do know that the Yemeni government had to fight against ‘terror’ because it was pressured by the US. That is no secret. But there is no need for some writers in government newspapers to strongly support Yemen’s stance in assisting the US in its war by saying that this was in Yemen’s best interest because Yemen had suffered from terrorism for so long and it is only natural that it would support the US in this cause.
Those writers have failed, however, to realize that most of those terror attacks in Yemen might have resulted from Yemen’s support to the US.
In any case, we are witnessing one of the darkest moments not only in Yemen’s history, but in the history of all Arab and Muslim nations. We are extremely weak and vulnerable to pressure exerted by superpowers such as the US.
Our governments know we are weak, and so do the Yemeni people. But it would have been much better to confess to the people that Yemen had to do this because it was pressurized to do so instead of claiming that it is doing it for the sake of its people.
There are certain limits to what a government could say in justifying its stance in defending the US war against terror.
But there is also another limit to the level of frustration among the people concerning the US command in the region.
The most important fact that we should all realize is that every limit has an end, and the limit of Yemen assistance to the US nowadays is also reaching its end.
Will the end come after the war against Iraq starts?
Or will it end when Yemen itself becomes a future target?
Let’s wait and see.

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