Yemen is not just a land of many problems — its sky has problems too. The receding annual rainfall from the clouds above has made way for another precipitant: missiles from remote-controlled American aircraft. The United States has been flying armed drones over Yemen since 2002, targeting Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and recently these strikes have increased dramatically. The Obama administration has authorized more airstrikes and drone attacks in the past two years than Bush did during his eight years in office. Far too often civilians are paying the price. In 2012 alone, US missiles killed at least 185 Yemenis in as many as 90 strikes. Among the tactical changes of the Obama administration has been its “signature drones” policy, by which drone operators can engage targets based solely on “suspicious behavior” observed through telescopic cameras far above, rather than on hard intelligence gathered on the ground.
