Drone strikes continue to rock Yemen as the U.S. embassy remains closed due to terrorist threats. And yet it seems the United States' anti-terrorist efforts might be having the opposite effect on some of the region's citizens. Yemeni journalist and youth activist Farea al-Muslimi joined HuffPost Live's Ahmed Shihab-Eldin to discuss how this version of air warfare is driving ordinary citizens in Yemen toward extremism.
In his latest article in Al-Monitor "America Loses Yemeni People To Drone Strikes," al-Muslimi explains the Yemeni public's "frenzy" over the "rapid-fire" drone strikes. Given the seemingly stable situation on the ground, ordinary civilians were unaware of the heightened security measures until they saw planes flying overhead and drones hit the capital city of Sanaa.
"[We are] pointing fingers at these very unthoughtful policies being implemented in Yemen. [It is] really harming, as we see it on the ground, Yemeni security, the United States security, and doing a lot of good for al Qaeda," al-Muslimi told Shihab-Eldin.
Telling HuffPost Live that the U.S. drone strikes come "at the expense of Yemeni stability," al-Muslimi noted the public's confusion due to the disconnect between the situation on the ground and the international media's "exaggerated" portrayal of the country.
"[This is] an effort to explain the gap between the Yemen we see in the international media and the other absurdly different Yemen you see locally," he said.
Watch their full discussion above.
Last week, American journalist and editor of the Yemen Post Hakim Almasmari told Shihab-Eldin that Yemenis fear U.S. drone strikes more than they do Al Qaeda.
"The Yemeni people are not afraid of Al Qaeda, because Al Qaeda will always fight and attack soldiers and troops and militants. They will never attack civilians. Whereas the drones at times will attack civilians -- like in the last 10 days, out of the 13 who were killed, three were civilians," Almasmari said.
Watch that conversation below:
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