[Peace-discuss] @HuffPo: In Yemen, Let's Redeem President Obama's War on Terror Reform Speech

[Robert Naiman]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/in-yemen-lets-redeem-pres_b_3397943.html

Have you ever gotten on a boat or a train when you didn't have
*exactly*the right ticket for that boat or that train at that
*particular* time?

True confessions: I have.

The situation requires a certain degree of *chutzpah* -- self-confidence in
your ability to redeem a promise for more than some people think it is
actually worth.

There's no question that in his recent
speech<http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/23/remarks-president-national-defense-university>at
National Defense University, President Obama promised to substantially
reform the so-called "war" previously known as the "Global War on Terror."

How *exactly* he promised to reform it has been a matter of substantial
debate.

Has the president promised to end "signature" drone strikes that target
unknown people, a major cause of civilian casualties? The jury is
still out<http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/29/the-signature-strikes-program/>
.

Next week, I'm going to Yemen on a peace delegation organized by
CodePink<http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2013/06/06-3>.
We'll be meeting with families of prisoners at Guantanamo, and families
that have been harmed by U.S. drone strikes in Yemen. We hope by our
presence to help lift up their stories where the American public can see
them. I am confident that the abusive policies of the former "Global War on
Terror" will not stand when we make the innocent victims of these policies
more visible.

I have an audacious goal for our trip: help redeem President Obama's
promise of reform as it applies to Yemen, so that six months from now, we
can look back and say, in Yemen, the so-called "war" previously known as
the "Global War on Terror" was substantially reformed following President
Obama's speech.

We plan to meet with the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa. I hope to hand-deliver this
petition <http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/yemen> to the U.S.
Ambassador to Yemen, Gerald Feierstein, calling for Yemenis at Guantanamo
to be sent home and for U.S. drone strikes in Yemen to end. At this
writing, 8,300 people have signed. I hope that by the time I deliver it in
Sanaa next week, more than 10,000 people will have signed.

I'm not under any illusions that these demands are going to be met
immediately. But here are three things that, following President Obama's
speech, I claim are realistic goals for reforming the former "Global War on
Terror" in Yemen in the next six months:

1) Send home all 56 Yemenis at
Guantanamo<http://www.news.com.au/world-news/yemen-prepares-for-return-of-guantanamo-inmates-56-yemenis-cleared-for-release/story-fndir2ev-1226650996167>who
have been cleared for release by the U.S. government. Eight-six of the
166 prisoners at Guantanamo -- 52 percent -- have been cleared for
transfer<http://za.news.yahoo.com/us-hands-over-two-ex-guantanamo-detainees-mauritania-142820543.html>.
Fifty-six of the 86 cleared for transfer -- 65 percent -- are Yemenis. So
we could reduce the number of prisoners who have been cleared for transfer
by 65 percent just by sending home the Yemenis cleared for transfer; we
could reduce the number of prisoners at Guantanamo overall by 34 percent
just by sending home the Yemenis who have been cleared for transfer. If you
count the evil of Guantanamo by the number of men imprisoned there, we can
reduce the evil of Guantanamo by a third just by sending home the Yemenis
who have been cleared for transfer.

2) Transfer control of any drone strikes in Yemen from the CIA to the U.S.
military, so that essential information about the operation of this policy
can enter the public domain. In particular, so that we can see whether the
policy fully complies with U.S. and international law, what the impact of
the policy is on innocent civilians, and what steps the U.S. is taking to
redress the grievances of innocent civilians harmed by the policy.

3) End "signature" drone strikes in Yemen targeted against unknown persons,
based on intelligence suggesting "terrorist-like" behavior that would never
pass muster in a court of law.

I claim that these are realistic short-term goals because many people think
that President Obama has already promised to do them. Regardless of whether
he really has so promised, I claim that with sufficient public pressure and
attention, an ambiguous promise will be good enough to reach our
destination.

*If you want to add your voice to my attempt to redeem President Obama's
promise in Yemen, you may do so here<http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/yemen>
.*

-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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