Yemen: US Invasion Could Strengthen al-Qaeda

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by snuffysmith | January 8, 2010 at 08:16 am
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In the past few weeks, the US has assisted Yemen in launching a number of attacks inisde Yemen on the ground in its efforts to quell civil war and battle Al Qaeda terrorists operating inside Yemen. Today, however, Yemen’s Deputy Prime Minister Rashed al-Aleemi warned the US against launching a ground invasion into Yemen.

The Pentagon has previously  confirmed that the US already has a small  military force on the ground, bu has declined to confirm exactly what that force is doing beyond ongoing training missions.


“Any intervention or direct action by the United States could strengthen the al-Qaeda network and not weaken it,” Aleemi noted. At the same time he said Yemen needs help in the form of weapons and training to combat the growing al-Qaeda presence there

Source: news.antiwar.com

Yemen has committed troups to engage Al Qaeda, but Yemen is also embroiled in three civil wars across the country. Naturally the US takes the view that perhaps Yemen's forces are stretched, but Yemen's warning regarding Al Qaeda needs to be seriously considered.

Yemen further declared that there are limits to its military cooperation with the United States, warning that any direct U.S. action in this impoverished Middle Eastern nation could bolster the popularity of Islamist militants

.In very clear and unambiguous language Rashad al-Alimi, Yemen's deputy prime minister for security and defense stated:

Yemen says there are limits to its military cooperation with United States

"If there is direct intervention by the United States, it will strengthen al-Qaeda,"  "We cannot accept any foreign troops on Yemeni territory."

The statement underscored the rising concern among Yemen's leadership about a domestic backlash that could politically weaken the government and foment more instability. In recent days, top Yemeni officials have publicly played down their growing ties to Washington, fearing that they will be perceived by their opponents as weak and beholden to the United States.

 

Source: washingtonpost.com

Alimi also said that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian Detroit bomber, had likely met with Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi.  Aulaqi is also linked to Nidal M. Hasan, the U.S. Army major who is charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas.

U.S. investigators believe the Christmas Day plot originated in Yemen and that Abdulmutallab received chemical explosives and training during his stay inYemen. This is a point of contention with Alimi and the Yemeni government.

At his press conference, Alimi asserted that Abdulmutallab had received the chemical explosives for the failed attack in Nigeria. "That question should be directed at the Nigerian authorities and the Dutch government. It's not related to the Yemeni security apparatus."

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snuffysmith
snuffysmith

at 12:15 on January 8th, 2010

Obama's Yemeni odyssey targets China
By M K Bhadrakumar
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LA09Ak02.html

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snuffysmith
snuffysmith

at 12:35 on January 8th, 2010

US hand stayed - for now

Since the abortive Christmas Day bombing of the North West Airlines flight by a Nigerian linked to al-Qaeda and Yemen, both sides seem to have drawn back. The Yemenis who had been canvassing for heavy weaponry that would allow them to defeat all their various rebels seem to have realized that if they wanted to put truth in the rumors about al-Qaeda being behind them, all they had to do was get too close to the US and West - as in fact they had already shown signs of doing with bombing raids. 

Any visible intervention by the US could unify Yemen like nothing else - against the invader. The same thought seems to be occurring in Washington, despite the apocalyptic languageSecretary of State Hillary Clinton about the Yemeni situation being a regional and global threat. Support for police units has already been announced, and the international meeting that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has convened (with American and Saudi support) for the end of the month seems based on the premise that economic, social and political development are crucial to hold the country together and dampen the various conflicts.

It is not so much that Yemen is a failed state, but as Indian pacifist Mahatma Gandhi one said when asked what he thought about Western civilization, a functioning state would be a good idea. There are unlikely to be any quick and easy answers, but it could be that the right questions are being asked this time. If there is to be a war in Yemen against abstractions, it should be against tangible and real abstractions: poverty and one of its causes, corruption. 

Source: atimes.com

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