Just six days after a US drone bombed his village, killing five militants in the process, a 23-year-old Yemeni writer named Farea Al-Muslimi travelled to Washington D.C. to tell the US Senate about the impact the strikes are having in his country. In a powerful testimony to the assembled senators, Al-Muslimi said that rather than fighting terrorism, US drone strikes in his country were fueling it. He told the committee that he owed much to America, having first visited as an exchange student during his school years, and later winning a scholarship to study for a semester at a US college. But he came with a simple request: that the US stops bombing his country. The simplicity and personal tone of his intervention along with his recognition of the “other” America that educated and formed him resulted in a truly striking testimonial.
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