The massacre the Yemeni regime committed against civilian protesters on March 18 was horrific, a true act of tyranny by President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Gunmen opened fire from rooftops on a demonstration in the capital of Sanaa, resulting in at least 50 confirmed deaths, a strong affirmation that the president’s regime was not going to bow to anti-government demands anytime soon. On this day, and since unrest first began to mount several months ago, Saleh’s crimes have been buffered by a silent accomplice: the international community. On March 21, a large contingent of the Yemeni army joined the protesters in their demands, prompting a flood of diplomatic and high-level governmental resignations throughout the country and at embassies around the world. Remarkably, one of these defections was on the part of Ali Mohsenal-Ahmar, the President’s half brother and the leader of the military campaigns against the Shia Houthi movement
