Saleh vacillated between supporting jihadist causes and backing the American campaign against al-Qaeda, all the while vexing allies and foes. His death and the challenges Yemen now faces illustrate everything that is wrong in Washington's approach to a Middle East it has consistently failed to navigate.
America merely drifts from crisis to crisis, caught in a whirlwind from which it cannot escape.
While Arab governments incarcerated their citizens returning from the Afghan campaign against the Soviets, Saleh not only lavished his with honours, but welcomed those from other nations to fight his battles, including a 1994 civil war.
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Yemenis are angry that America has transformed their country into a test tube experiment for its drone research programme | ![]() |
Saleh equally confounded Democratic and Republican administrations whose various Yemen policies failed miserably. When he refused to condemn the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, President George Bush terminated an aid programme.
President Bill Clinton sought to improve relations, allowing naval ships to refuel in Aden. That experiment ended in disaster when al-Qaeda bombed the USS Cole, killing 17 Americans. President George W. Bush relied on Saleh in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, making him the poster boy of his "War on Terror".
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Yemenis are angry that America has transformed their country into a test tube experiment for its drone research programme.
Yemen is a paragon of an Arab world whose leaders see their country as the personal fiefdom of the military (Egypt), particular tribes (Yemen), sect (Bahrain, Iraq and Syria) or region (Jordan).
But the lack of coherent governance, poor social services and rampant corruption are the biggest problems facing ordinary civilians in much of the region. A United States reluctant to make their grievances a priority allows jihadists to fill the vacuum, thus creating a viscous circle from which Washington cannot extricate itself.
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Washington views regional relations exclusively through the prism of counter-terrorism | ![]() |
But what they do hope for, is a modicum of stability among the chaos that has engulfed their nation this decade. To attain it, Saleh's successors must build a more inclusive political base, while ceasing to provide tribal elders and other actors the patronage they have come to view as their birth right.
If Yemen is ever to set itself on its feet again, its leader must address long-festering issues they have conveniently skirted in favour of placating patrons. And Washington will have to offer something that goes beyond the scrap metal from the hellfire missiles its drones continue to litter across the country.
Barak Barfi is a research fellow at the New America Foundation, where he specialises in Arab and Islamic Affairs.
Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.
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