At the time of this post, Yemen is
in chaos as violence and death mar any sort of hope for a power transfer. Yet
hopes for a power transfer are rising as it was just recently announced that
Ali Abdullah Saleh
has authorized the vice president, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, to begin talks
with the opposition about a power transfer. This seems like a wonderful turn of
events, the evil president finally realizing his wrong ways and trying to step
down while he can. But that is the romanticized view. In reality, he hasn’t
authorized the vice president to sign any agreement that comes out of those
talks. (That sneaky jerk) Once again, Saleh shows his knack for political
survival.
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| A defected soldier is rushed to the hospital after being wounded in a firefight against loyalist gunmen. [AFP] |
But while a power transfer might
finally be in sight, violence is still breaking out all over Yemen. The past
couple of days have seen (at the moment) 89 killed, including children and a
10-month old baby girl. What sort of person shells and kills innocent
civilians? What kind of person kills a baby girl? Why is this allowed to
happen? The injustice of it all, the horrible mistreatment of human beings is
unnerving and it really shows the influence a dictator can have. He can
brainwash his forces to commit unspeakable acts.
While the army shells its own
people, others in the army realize what is happening. General
Ali Mohsen al Ahmar and forces loyal to him have been protecting protestors
in recent gatherings in Sanaa. Having pledged
loyalty to the protestors back in March, he has used his authority and
troops to hopefully create a buffer between Saleh’s security forces and the
people, one that hopefully holds up. But it won’t be enough, and hasn’t been.
With supposed closure coming, the actions by Saleh’s forces seem to reveal the
real motives of the Yemeni government.
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