Thousands of Yemenis rallied today in the far eastern province of Hudeidah to condemn the Saleh government for its growing practice of “collective punishment” against regions that have fallen out of their control.
The protesters slammed Saleh for the government’s tendency to stop supplying electricity in cities and provinces where the regime has been forced from power in favor of reformists or tribal leadership.
They also demanded that the government bring to justice any troops who use live ammunition against civilian protesters, a practice which has also become commonplace in many of the regions where the military is trying to crush overwhelming popular opposition.
Though Yemen’s government seems by all indications to be on the brink of complete collapse, the Obama Administration today praised Saleh and his deputies for “aiding counter-terrorism efforts.” US drones have attacked a number of targets in an effort to aid Saleh’s attempts to regain control over the nation.
There may be an error in the article. The far eastern province is Hadhramouth, and Al-Hodeidah is a port that is on the far Western part of the country. The formerly independent Hadhramouth is where the independence movement has been always alive since Yemen annexed the province against their will. The annexation was backed by Saudi Arabia that always had huge sway in Yemeni politics, ever since the early days of revolutionary, pro-Nasser governance was over. Just like in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and US are absolutely reckless in the way civilians are treated by the military. In Bahrain, Saudi Arabia added its military to suppress the revolt. In Yemen, far from the "mainstream" media that always seems to "miss" really important events — civilians are being killed by tanks in Taiz, and by airforce throughtout the country. This is aided by drone attacks against the opponents of the regime. Obama has lost whatever shreds of credibility he had on foreign policy with this involvement.