"In Yemen today, the U.S. embassy is closed to the public. Officials telling CNN there is credible information of a threat against Western interests there" — a CNN news anchor read the news bulletin on May 2008.
This is CNN's Yemen. It is a Yemen that seems to exist for one purpose and nothing else: maintain Western, and by extension, U.S. interests in that part of the world. When these interests are threatened, only then does Yemen matter. Every reference in that specificallytailored discourse serves a purpose.
It is as if al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula exists to justify U.S. military intervention and unending drone war. Last April, 63 Yemenis were reportedly killed in U.S. drone strikes allegedly targeting al-Qaida. No credible verification of that claim is available, and none of the victims has been identified. "Signature" drone strikes don't require identification, we are told. It could take months, if not years, before rights groups shed light on the April killings, which are a continuation of a protracted drone war.