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Yemen praises State Department's use of graphic anti-militant imagery
The Yemeni government is siding with the State Department in a controversial propaganda effort targeting al Qaeda recruitment efforts in Yemen.
After an al Qaeda group posted photos of coffins draped in American flags on tribal websites, the U.S. crafted a counter-ad in Arabic that replaced the flags with Yemeni ones to convey that most victims of terrorist attacks are local people. Foreign media questioned during Thursday's State Department briefing whether the use of the Yemeni flags was in “good taste” and could backfire, but the Yemeni embassy in Washington tells The Hill that it approves of the message being sent.
“Militants use 'selected messages' to indoctrinate young Muslims,” said embassy spokesman Mohammed al-Basha. “We need to consistently remind the public that al Qaeda is committed to killing fellow Muslims in Yemen. Hundreds of Muslim Yemeni soldiers were targeted, and that's a fact.
“President [Abdo Rabbo Mansour] Hadi's administration has intensified its 'counter-narrative' campaign using TV, radio, Web and print media to highlight the heinous crimes and atrocities that have been committed by al Qaeda. We also applaud the efforts of our allies in this field.”
"A couple of weeks ago, al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen began an advertising campaign on key tribal websites bragging about killing Americans and trying to recruit new supporters," Clinton said. "Within 48 hours, our team plastered the same sites with altered versions of the ads that showed the toll al Qaeda attacks have taken on the Yemeni people. "
She said the efforts “are starting to have an impact."
"We monitor the extremists venting their frustration and asking their supporters not to believe everything they read on the Internet," Clinton said.
