hipsterlibertarian:Mohammed Tuaiman al-Jahmi was 13 years old.—He lived in al-Zur village in the Mar
hipsterlibertarian:Mohammed Tuaiman al-Jahmi was 13 years old.—He lived in al-Zur village in the Marib province of Yemen, and in 2011 anAmerican drone strike killed his father and older brother while they wereherding their camels. Since then, ashe told The Guardian lastSeptember, he lived in constant fear of drones. They even appeared in hisnightmares. “I see them every day and weare scared of them,” Mohammed said. “A lot of the kids in this area wake upfrom sleeping because of nightmares from them and some now have mentalproblems. They turned our area into hell and continuous horror, day and night,we even dream of them in our sleep.”The drone’s indiscriminate killing—remember, it’sofficial US policy to count any military-aged male killed as a terrorist,regardless of (the absence of) actual evidence)—was particularly concerningand confusing to him: “They tell us that these drones come from bases in SaudiArabia and also from bases in the Yemeni seas and America sends them to killterrorists, but they always kill innocent people. But we don’t know why theyare killing us.”“The elders told usthat it’s criminal to kill the civilians without distinguishing betweenterrorists and innocents,” he added, “andthey kill just on suspicion, without hesitation.”Just a couple months after the Guardian interview, Mohammed’s confusion would cease—not because ofa reformed American drone policy, but because he himself waskilled in a drone strike on January 26.Predictably, Mohammed and the two men who were also burnedto death in the car the missile struck werelabeled terrorists. But he “wasn’t a member of al-Qaida,” Mohammad’s brotherMaqdad says. “He was a kid.”The family is so dedicated to proving their brother’sinnocence that they’ve vowed to sue if need be. “After our father died,” Maqdadcontinues, “al-Qaida came to us to offer support. But we are not with them.Al-Qaida may have claimed Mohammed now but we will do anything—go to court,whatever—in order to prove that he was not with al-Qaida.”Maqdad is equally determined to get the American government toadmit its crimes against his family: “We live in injustice and we want theUnited States to recognize these crimes against my father and my brothers. They were innocent people, we are weak,poor people, and we don’t have anything to do with this.”Though he still rejects allegiance to al-Qaida, after seeinghis brother’s body “completely burned, like charcoal,” it is no surprise ifMaqdad is no friend to the United States.—Mohammed Tuaiman al-Jahmi was 13 years old.This is heartbreaking. I’m struggling to find words to encompass all the emotions I’m feeling right now… -- source link
#drone strikes#imperialism