Do it for your people [Archives:2002/08/Viewpoint]

I have been receiving several phone calls and emails lately from American readers who expressed their satisfaction and appreciation to the Yemeni government for assisting the USAs war against so-called terrorism.
However, the letters also implied that efforts to fight terrorism by tracking down suspects and reviving a disarmament campaign that were the result of American demands.
This is a problem.
If the Yemeni government is doing this just to please the USA, then this will help neither the Americans nor the Yemeni. If its taking its action just to please the worlds superpower, the government is just wasting its time. Thats because once the pressure is stopped, the action also will cease.
So, were calling on the government to ban the flagrant carrying of weapons, to arrest law-breakers, to enforce the law, and to do all it takes to provide security here, not for anyone else, but for us, the Yemeni people.
Its Yemeni citizens who need those measures. We are proud when the government produces tangible results in enforcing the law and capturing offenders and terrorists. It gives intellectuals and country-lovers hope that the country could once again go back to its glory days of security and stability.
So, if cracking down on terrorists is a move just to alleviate Western pressure, it just wont last.
To our government, please do continue the positive steps taken recently. But think of it as a duty for the Yemeni citizens, and not for others.
To our president,
You are from the people, of the people, and to the people. So please, do continue doing what you are doing.
But please, do it for your people

——
[archive-e:08-v:2002-y:2002-d:2002-02-18-p:./2002/iss08/view.htm]