Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
U.S. Widens Terror War to Yemen, a Qaeda Bastion
Share: 
by snuffysmith | December 28, 2009 at 11:52 am
166 views | 0 Recommendations | 8 comments
WASHINGTON — In the midst of two unfinished major wars, the United States has quietly opened a third, largely covert front against Al Qaeda in Yemen.
Yemeni protesters staged a demonstration in the southern part of the country on Thursday after a raid against Qaeda militants.
A year ago, the Central Intelligence Agency sent several of its top field operatives with counterterrorism experience to the country, according a former top agency official. At the same time, some of the most secretive Special Operations commandos have begun training Yemeni security forces in counterterrorism tactics, senior military officers said.
The Pentagon is spending more than $70 million over the next 18 months, and using teams of Special Forces, to train and equip Yemeni military, Interior Ministry and coast guard forces, more than doubling previous military aid levels.
The country has long been a refuge for jihadists, in part because Yemen’s government welcomed returning Islamist fighters who had fought in Afghanistan during the 1980s. The Yemen port of Aden was the site of the audacious bombing of the American destroyer Cole in October 2000 by Qaeda militants, which killed 17 sailors.
Qaeda militants have made much more focused efforts to build a base in Yemen in recent years, drawing recruits from throughout the region and mounting attacks more frequently on foreign embassies and other targets. The White House is seeking to nurture enduring ties with the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and prod him to combat the local Qaeda affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, even as his impoverished country grapples with seemingly intractable internal turmoil.
“Yemen now becomes one of the centers of that fight,” said Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut and chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, who visited the country in August. “We have a growing presence there, and we have to, of Special Operations, Green Berets, intelligence,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“Yemen’s security problems won’t just stay in Yemen,” said Christopher Boucek, who studies Yemen as an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. “They’re regional problems and they affect Western interests.”
The United States believes that Yemen is becoming Al Qaeda's next operational training hub, rivaling the tribal areas of Pakistan where Al Qaeda leaders have been operating. Saudi Arabia is similarly concerned given the resurgent Islamist extremism in nearby Somalia and East Africa.rganization’s top leaders operate.
Although the most important intelligence has come came from the United States and Saudi Arabia, other countries in the region have increased their financial assistance to help Yemen. There is a pervasive fear both inside and outside Yemen that Al Qaeda is staking new ground, establishing training centers,and making some parts of Yemen no-go areas. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are providing assistance because they believe they will be targeted in the future.
This is an expansion of the Yemen story and updates found in
Yemen and Updates by snuffysmith | December 20, 2009 at 09:21 am[q url="http://my.nowpublic.com/world/yemen-and-updates"]
Advertisement
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (8)
at 11:59 on December 28th, 2009
More News On Yemen
Yemen arrests 29 Al Qaeda, gets increased US military support -- Christian Science Monitor
Yemen arrests 29 al Qaeda suspects after raids -- Washington Post
U.S. fears Yemen a safe haven for al Qaeda -- CNN
Al-Qaeda group in Yemen gaining prominence -- Washington Post
Security chief: Yemen will not become safe haven for al Qaeda -- Al Bawaba
Detroit terror attack: Yemen is the true home of Al-Qaeda -- The Telegraph
Yemen emerges as new Al Qaeda hub -- Dawn
Yemeni Groups Increased Aviation Threats -- Wall Street Journal
Attempted bombing spotlights al Qaeda growth in Yemen -- Reuters
Yemen: the international jihadi's destination of choice -- The Guardian
Ask The Expert: Will Yemen Become A Major Al-Qaeda Sanctuary? -- Radio Free Europe
Yemen says Houthi rebel leader may be dead -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Yemen rebel leader 'may be dead' -- Al Jazeera
Weeks of fighting Yemen rebels killed 73 Saudis -- AP
Saudi Says 73 Soldiers Slain In War on Yemen Rebels -- New York Times/Reuters
Yemen: The Humanitarian Crisis -- UN Dispatch
at 12:19 on December 28th, 2009
Gitmo Transfer To Yemen In Doubt
WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. plans to send Guantanamo detainees to Yemen must be re-examined in light of an attempt to destroy a Northwest Airlines jet, lawmakers said.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutalla, the Nigerian man charged with Friday's bombing attempt, allegedly told authorities in Detroit that al-Qaida members in Yemen engineered the explosive device found sewn into his underwear, ABC News reported Sunday.
Read more
More News On Yemeni Prisoners At Guantanamo
Xmas bomb bid complicates Gitmo plan -- Politico
6 Detainees Are Returned to Yemen -- New York Times
Six Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay to be repatriated -- Washington Post
Transferring Detainees To Yemen. -- American Prospect
Guantanamo at crossroads -- L.A. Times editorial
What to do with the 95 Yemenis at Gitmo now? -- Hot Air
Reality intrudes on plans to close Gitmo -- Power Line
at 19:43 on December 28th, 2009
Al-Qaida's network in Yemen has issued an official response to the airstrike earlier this week on a suspected Al-Qaida gathering in the region of Shabwah that reportedly killed up to 30 people, including a number of senior Al-Qaida operatives. The group threatened that it would not allow "the slaughter of Muslim women and children to pass without taking vengeance for them, Allah willing. We call upon all Yemeni tribes... and the people of the Arabian Peninsula to confront the crusaders and their clients in the Arabian Peninsula by attacking military bases, embassies, intelligence agents, and naval fleets occupying the waters of the Arabian Peninsula."
A complete translation of Al-Qaida's response is available on the NEFA Foundation website.
at 19:44 on December 28th, 2009
On October 29, 2009, Al-Qaida's network in Yemen (AQIY) released the 11th edition of their official magazine Sada al-Malahim, which included an article written by the top commander of AQIY, Abu Basir al-Wahishi, titled "War is a Trick." In the article, al-Wahishi advised would-be Al-Qaida members on how to utilize all available weapons to kill "apostates" and Western nationals. He urged them to target "airports in the western crusade countries that participated in the war against Muslims; or on their planes, or in their residential complexes or their subways."
A translation of the relevant excerpts from Abu Basir's article can be accessed via the NEFA Foundation website.
at 11:09 on December 29th, 2009
'Hundreds Of Al-Qaeda Militants Planning Attacks From Yemen' -- Times Online
Hundreds of al-Qaeda militants are planning terror attacks from Yemen, the country’s Foreign Minister said today.
Abu Bakr al-Qirbi appealed for more help from the international community to help to train and equip counter-terrorist forces.
His plea came after an al-Qaeda group based in Yemen claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas Day airliner bomb plot.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, alleged to be behind the attempt to blow up an American-bound aircraft, spent time in Yemen with al-Qaeda and was in the country only days before the failed attack.
Read more
at 11:10 on December 29th, 2009
More News On Yemen
Western counter-terrorism help 'not enough for Yemen' -- BBC
Yemeni Groups Increased Aviation Threats -- Wall Street Journal
Attempted bombing spotlights al Qaeda growth in Yemen -- Reuters
Growing Al Qaeda Threat from Yemen -- CBS
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- Al Jazeera
Official: Behind scenes, U.S. prodding Yemen to confront al Qaeda -- CNN
Yemen is focus of new US front against al-Qaeda -- Times Online
Yemen’s War on Terrorism -- The Examiner
Yemen ties of Northwest bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab test Guantanamo plans -- Christian Science Monitor
Yemen is fertile territory for extremism as it tears itself apart -- The Guardian
Yemen: Magnet for refugees and Al Qaeda? -- Global Post
Is Yemen the next failed state? -- The Guardian
A Fraying Yemen's Terrorism Problem -- Council On Foreign Relations
at 12:23 on December 29th, 2009
The Yemeni government will do what it can to show the US it is willing to go after al-Qa'ida. But the threat to its own existence comes from various directions: first, the civil war it is fighting with Shia revivalists – who it claims are backed by Iran – in the northern province of Saada; then secessionism in the south sparked by discontent over the outcome of Yemeni unification in 1990 and the civil war that followed; and finally a growing economic crisis as Yemen's small oilfields, which provide revenue, are running out.
Pressure from the US to pursue al-Qa'ida will be one extra strain on a government which has been unable to cope with these multiple crises.
at 14:50 on December 29th, 2009
Whether it's AQ or not, nobody in Arab media cares – Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy:
“Al-Qaeda's attempted acts of terrorism simply no longer carry the kind of persuasive political force with mass Arab or Muslim publics which they may have commanded in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Even as the microscopically small radicalized and mobilized base continues to plot and even to thrive in its isolated pockets, it has largely lost its ability to break out into mainstream public appeal. ... [COMMENT BY BLOG READER:] Again, I'm wondering what you are up to with a post which states so much of the obvious? Is this public diplomacy or something? You trying to convince US policy hacks that they need to forget about terrorism and focus on Gaza, or something? That does seem to be the driving force between most of your posts, and it has been for years, but why not just come out and say so? Why set up all these straw men?” Image from