Is US strategy in Yemen counter-productive?

[The Northerner]

As Yemen grapples with the challenges of a fragile political transition, the US has escalated its military operations in the country.

Since 2001, hundreds of people have been killed in US drone strikes in Yemen - dozens of them civilians. But, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, a not-for-profit organisation based at City University in London, there has been a surge in US military activity in the country since pro-democracy protests began in 2011.

In the last two weeks, there have been 10 suspected US drone strikes. The latest, on Tuesday, reportedly killed at least 12 civilians.

Drone strikes have been a central part of the US' covert wars in both Pakistan and Yemen.

An estimated 322 drone strikes have been carried out in Pakistan, killing approximately 3,000 people, since 2004, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestoryamericas/2012/05/201251681856713877.html

[gratuitous]

1. How could it be counter-productive?

I mean, some terrorists are undoubtedly being summarily executed, and everyone who matters agrees that that is a Good Thing. And the other people who have been blown to bits are probably so posthumously proud of helping win the war on terror that they're popping the buttons off their burial shrouds. Maybe a few bitter dead-enders are going to hold a grudge that we killed their friends or relatives, but really, what can they possibly do about it?

[DirkGently]

2. Not if the goal is endless anti-American furor.