Why deny? [Archives:2002/42/Viewpoint]

Why do we always deny? This week Yemeni officials continued their habit of denying terrorists could be involved in an area attack: this time against the French oil tanker Limburg. It is their right to do so. However, when they are found to be wrong time after time, that damages their own reputation. No one should rule out anything unless solid information is at hand.
Journalists were able to convey this stance to the public because the government is a source of news for all journalists. But when hasty statements only damage its own reputation.
At the same time, I also do not agree with the French Embassy equally hasty- statement that this was a terrorist attack. Diplomats need to speak more delicately. Because they represent their nations and governments, they should not reveal anything unless they are 100% assured that what they know and are about to reveal is accurate and will not harm relations between their country and Yemen.
The Yemeni government’s denial of the incident’s relation to terrorism is not the first of its kind. The government acted in a similar fashion after the USS Cole attack, the attack against the UK embassy last year, and other similar incidents.
The government needs to understand that being attacked is not something that it should be blamed for. Such incidents happen all over the world all the time. The recent attack in Finland show terrorists are everywhere on this planet. The solution is not to deny their existence, but combat them by requesting help from the international community.
This also reminds me of the City Center market explosion of 1999. A few hours after the blast, the government ordered that the remains of the building be removed quickly. The government should have left everything as is until a full investigation is complete and results are out. Instead, the government continues to sweep the dust beneath the carpet. It’s a dangerous practice that needs to be changed.
The world is now like a village, and events happening in any part of the world may affect the rest. So, it is obvious for world nations to assist Yemen in its efforts against terrorism.
While we cannot deny that the government has done a splendid job in saving the tanker’s crew and facilitating the work of foreign investigators, it also has a lot of work to do in other ways.
It should be open to all possible causes that may happen in any part of the country. It needs to expose evidence and not hide it from the public or the world. In order to relate well to the rest of the world, Yemen must abandon its long-standing denial habit: for the sake of its image and for the sake of our nation’s future.

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