Though formerly an unnoted Middle Eastern state, Yemen has garnered the attention of United States National Security, as recent terrorist threats from within its borders have centered their crosshairs on the United States.
Sects of Al-Qaeda in Yemen have recently plotted to ship ingredients for explosives to the United States, where citizens would assist in a terrorist plot against fellow Americans.
As the military filters out of Iraq, it seems that Al-Qaeda will become a larger problem, as its boundless organization bleeds into other governmental jurisdictions. Namely, it will create more of a problem for Yemen than it will for Al-Qaeda, as the country could be the next Middle Eastern state that is subject to an American military occupation under the pretext of quelling a terrorist group.
Yemen is now inadvertently viewed as a home for terrorists, having hosted terrorist accessories among its citizenship even though their presence was unknown to the Yemeni government.
In this way, it becomes easy to associate Yemen with terrorism, and the United States media is not making it easier for Yemen to speak in its own defense.
Simply covering the story is detrimental for Yemen, as media readerships will come to their own conclusions based on what many will see as a Yemeni problem. Even subtle psychological nuances of national attribution find their ways into the media, whether it is intended or not.
For example, in a recent New York Times article explaining the terrorist plot, it mentions Yemen 25 times and Al-Qaeda 14 times. Though almost certainly not a ploy by media to allot blame, the mere repetition of "Yemen," overshadowing the frequency of "Al-Qaeda," points to a possible reason for misconception.
Americans of Iraqi and Afghani descent already deal with undeserved animosity and unwarranted suspicion. It seems that people of Yemeni descent could suffer the same scrutiny in light of these new terrorist cells in Yemen.
Though it is unfair, nationality and religion invariably become associated with people's actions. A radical that guns down an abortion doctor will unintentionally add to bitterness toward Evangelicals and American ignorance, just as an extremist Yemeni Muslim who plants a bomb will earn points against both Yemen and Islam.
And though it should not have to be this way, each person who subscribes to any nationality or creed represents that denomination with every action he or she makes. Sometimes, it seems, we only hear about the bad things that religion does.
But the media is caught in the middle of this unfortunate truth as well. In order to present relevant and unbiased news, it must peripherally damage Yemen's reputation as an innocuous Middle Eastern factor.
It is a situation that can only be problematic for Yemen and beneficial to Al Qaeda, as the nation is illusively forced to share blame with its terrorist groups.
