Today in Yemen, there was a bombing on the Yemen's Ministry of Defense. The attack occurred around rush hour Thursday morning. The bombing killed 52 people so far and wounded 167. Among those were foreign physicians and Yemen military personnel. The strike occurred in the nations capitol, Sana'a. The attack came after the government heightened security measures in the area. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's media arm (al-Mallahem) claimed responsibility for the attack. On a twitter account the group stated they targeted the Ministry of Defense building because it "accommodates drone rooms and American experts." The attack occurred when a suicide car bomber detonated in front of the gates to the Ministry of defense followed by another vehicle with 13 heavily armed individuals wearing military uniforms drove through the wreckage and engaged in gunfire with government officials on scene. This led to mass confusion on who was the enemy or ally in the gun battle. Throughout the gun battle many explosions were heard according to eye witnesses. This is the deadliest attack in the capitol since May 2012 according to ABC news. The attack shows the growing strength of terrorist groups in the region.
The attack is believed to be a direct result of increased drone strikes by the United States in the region. The nation of Yemen has served as a allies to the United States in a very troubled region in the world. However, as the United States continues to use drone strikes and operate out of Yemen, the terrorist groups state that these areas constitute as security headquarters used by Americans and are therefor to be considered "legitimate targets." This attack shows the increasing tension throughout the world by these terrorist groups and there efforts to try and undermine the United States and other democracies. Especially in nations such as Yemen with transitioning governments. Although the United States has provided some $150 million in assistance to Yemen, primarily to their counterterrorism operations, the overall instability in the capitol causes increasing instability in the area. This attack also shows the importance of a strong stable government in order to help protect against terrorist attacks. While there is no way to be able to stop terrorist attacks altogether, there are many ways to help prevent them. A large issue in Yemen and this part of the world in the instability of the governments and the rebel groups within them as discussed in The New York Times. As instability rises it is increasingly difficult to be able to secure your nation and protect its citizens. These attacks stress the importance of creating stronger governments along with the need for more effective counterterrorism. The bombing also aligns with objectives terrorists try to accomplish by there attacks as discussed in class. These objectives include trying to coerce governments to grant policy concessions, target civilian and military objects, put pressure on governments and change public opinion overall. The attack shows al-Qaeda's effort to change the publics opinion of supporting the U.S. and the governments support for the drone strikes. The goal is to change the policy in the government and region to support these regimes and gain more support. As drone strikes and other acts of counterterrorism occur in the Middle East, terrorist attacks are expected to be more prevalent and destructive. While one can only hope these attacks diminish over time, the future looks increasingly dim.
This is kind of what we were trying to say today. It appears that unstable governments are more susceptible to terrorism. The reason there's the misconception that democracies are better targets for terrorism is because there is such an emphasis on civil liberties, which could perhaps hinder the country's ability to track and eventually prosecute terrorists. However, I think we made a strong argument that these civil liberties are what reinforce the ability to fight terrorists. Although this case isn't entirely relevant to that argument, it goes to show that stable governments have a better chance at fighting acts of terror. We have a tendency to associate stability with democracy and although that isn't always the case, it could be tested?
ReplyDeleteIt's very saddening to hear 52 people died and 167 were injured in this horrifying incident. The fact that The US has 'drone rooms' in the Yemen's Ministry of Defense poses a huge threat to Yemen and its people. These terrorists are clearly upset with the United States poor use of drones. Although Im all for the use of these unmanned war machines, they are said to have a 2% hit rate when it comes to terrorist deaths because of the massive amount of civilian deaths they cause. I wish we could figure out a way to just target with the drones the sick freaks that attacked the Defense building but that's highly unlikely. Lastly, I though it was interesting that Al-Qaeda uses Twitter. I know this is the 21st century but that's a little odd.
ReplyDeleteI feel that drone strikes are bring a fundamentally wrong methodology into the realm of battle. The fact that unmanned drones are killing people all over the world while they are being controlled by a technician sitting in front of a computer. It removes the human element from battle. The same could be said for the use of bombs but then at least there is a much higher likely hood of reaching the target. The video-game aspect makes it hard for me to find justification of drone use.
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