Obama’s Rules: US Drones in Yemen – ‘Psychological Torture’ from Above

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http://www.juancole.com/2014/03/obamas-psychological-torture.html

Obama’s Rules: US Drones in Yemen – ‘Psychological Torture’ from Above
By Juan Cole | Mar. 11, 2014
(By Sarah Lazare)

As the United States steps up covert drone strikes on Yemen, with three suspected U.S. drone attacks killing at least four people in Yemen early this week, campaigners on the ground say the accumulated years spent living under constant threat of death from above are sowing tragedy, "psychological torture," and resistance across the country.

"Entire communities are being killed off and families are being torn apart," said Rooj Alwazir, an anti-drone organizer based in Yemen, in an interview with Common Dreams. "Many people are living in constant fear because they could be next, creating widespread and long-term psychological torture. Many young boys are afraid to gather and children stop going to school and families stop gathering."

"As a result," she added, "the drone program fails to achieve their purpose. Instead of keeping the U.S. and Yemenis safe they end up breeding animosity and tearing apart the social fabric of some of the poorest and marginalized communities in the world."

While the U.S. government conceals information about its drone campaign from the public, data from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism shows that drone strikes in Yemen have overall increased since the first recorded attack in 2002, with a drastic spike in 2012. This trend was confirmed by Robert Naiman, Policy Director for Just Foreign Policy, who told Common Dreams, "Recently, drone strikes have been tapering off in Pakistan and increasing in Yemen. It has gone up and down, but the trend, since the drone strikes started, has increased."