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Yemen: Wrong Support, Wrong Message

As America seems to be opening another front on its war on terror, this time in Yemen - in other words, another war in addition to those already in Iraq, Afghanistan and partly in Pakistan - wiser heads are suggestion caution, not the least because of the impact in the wider Arab world.

McClatchy reports in "Obama aid to Yemen could risk backlash in Arab world":

"President Barack Obama's decision to boost U.S. aid to Yemen to help the small Arabian Peninsula country fight al Qaida risks tying the U.S. more closely to an autocratic ruler whose repression of economic and political grievances is strengthening the terrorists and pushing his impoverished nation toward breakup.

"Any association with the (Yemeni) regime will only confirm al Qaida's narrative, which is that America is only interested in maintaining corrupt and despotic rulers and is not interested in the fate of Arabs and Muslims," warned Bernard Haykel, a Princeton University professor.

The State Department's latest international human rights report cited allegations that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime tortures and assassinates suspected opponents, operates secret prisons and muzzles independent media".

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