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In Yemen, old strategy for a new reality
TND Article Spotlight: “In Yemen, old strategy for a new reality,” by Waqar Rizvi |
Photo by Collin Anderson via Flikr Creative Commons
Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen have been clouded by a massive propaganda campaign which doesn’t stand up to the facts.
The oft-repeated claim is that Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi is the ‘legitimate’ president of Yemen, and must be accepted as such by Yemenis. Hadi came into office after a farcical one-man election forced down Yemenis’ throats by the Saudis and the US after the ouster of the one-time dictator-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. That many Yemenis were dissatisfied with this process was of little consequence to its backers. Ever since the appointment of Hadi as president, Yemenis have not backed down from the desire to see their revolution reach a conclusion that is satisfactory for all.
Yemeni nation will not go backward
Even if we do accept Hadi as president, the image of him landing in Riyadh looking well rested, relaxed, and happy as his people endure sleepless nights of airstrikes does not do much to further his legitimacy in the eyes of Yemenis themselves. A legitimate leader is meant to lead all his people, not just his supporters, something Hadi had never been able to comprehend nor act upon. In the manic effort to control the narrative, the Houthis and others, including the army, who oppose Hadi’s rule, as in the case of the majority of Bahrainis who protest against the monarchy, are labeled as foreign ‘stooges,’ as if anyone who opposes the installed president must be serving an outside power. That Hadi himself reiterates this notion does not bode well for him as a leader of all Yemenis. He cannot serve his country, if that is his real intention, if he only wants quiet submission to him and his policies. That was Ali Abdullah Saleh’s niche form of rule, and Yemenis rejected that, so contrary to what Hadi may desire, the people are not willing to go backward.
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Source: http://thenewsdoctors.com/in-yemen-old-strategy-for-a-new-reality/
