Yemen instability poses a 'global threat', says Clinton
Instability in Yemen is a global as well as regional threat, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
Monday, 4 January 2010

Quote :

"The Yemeni government has a tribal rebellion and a secessionist movement to deal with, and has regarded al-Qaeda as a lesser priority, a BBC correspondent in Yemen says. 'It's time for the international community to make it clear to Yemen that there are expectations and conditions on our continuing support for the government so that they can take actions which will have a better chance to provide that peace and stability to the people of Yemen and the region,' Mrs Clinton said."

Quote :

"Speaking in Washington, Mrs Clinton said: 'We see global implications from the war in Yemen and the ongoing efforts by al-Qaeda in Yemen to use it as a base for terrorist attacks far beyond the region.'"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8440404.stm

1. Had a conservative said such a thing, I wonder how many here (and elsewhere) would be accusing him or her of "saber-rattling" or even "warmongering"?

2. It's not like there haven't been warning signs of the trouble in and coming out of Yemen.

1/5/2010 12:21:23 PM

This is no time to be precious about locating the exact individuals directly involved in this particular terrorist attack. Those responsible include anyone anywhere in the world who smiled in response to the annihilation of patriots like Barbara Olson. We don't need long investigations of the forensic evidence to determine with scientific accuracy the person or persons who ordered this specific attack. We don't need an "international coalition." We don't need a study on "terrorism." We certainly didn't need a congressional resolution condemning the attack this week. The nation has been invaded by a fanatical, murderous cult. And we welcome them. We are so good and so pure we would never engage in discriminatory racial or "religious" profiling. "All of our lives" don't need to change, as they keep prattling on TV. Every single time there is a terrorist attack — or a plane crashes because of pilot error — Americans allow their rights to be contracted for no purpose whatsoever. The airport kabuki theater of magnetometers, asinine questions about whether passengers "packed their own bags," and the hostile, lumpen mesomorphs ripping open our luggage somehow allowed over a dozen armed hijackers to board four American planes almost simultaneously on Bloody Tuesday. (Did those fabulous security procedures stop a single hijacker anyplace in America that day?) Airports scrupulously apply the same laughably ineffective airport harassment to Suzy Chapstick as to Muslim hijackers. It is preposterous to assume every passenger is a potential crazed homicidal maniac. We know who the homicidal maniacs are. They are the ones cheering and dancing right now. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war.

1/5/2010 12:45:40 PM

Coulter? Trying to derail the thread in the second post, huh? Nice.

1/5/2010 12:50:21 PM

Quote :

"words"

-God

wtf? what's that have to do with anything?

also, i didnt realize Yemen was such a tourist attraction.

1/5/2010 12:55:39 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo_Gg7ClW7c

1/5/2010 4:49:21 PM

^^My first thought as well. Tourists, in Yemen?

1/5/2010 4:56:00 PM

Well, the age of consent is 9 so.....

1/5/2010 4:59:59 PM

If you're going to do a thread on Yemen politicians and idiot pundits are not the place to go for good discussion. I'd start with the Waq al-Waq (yes) blog: http://islamandinsurgencyinyemen.blogspot.com/

Quote :

"also, i didnt realize Yemen was such a tourist attraction."

Yemen is actually quite beautiful and, if it could stabilize itself, has a lot to offer:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/12/30/travel/20071230_YEMEN_SLIDESHOW_index.html

1/5/2010 5:07:14 PM

Yemen is doomed. That's all I have to add.

oh, this too:

President Obama Suspending Gitmo Detainee Transfers to Yemen

Quote :

"The White House today announced that the U.S. government would suspend the transfer of any detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Yemen. “One of the very first things that Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula used as a recruiting tool was the existence of Guantanamo Bay,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said at his daily briefing. “We are not going to make decisions about transfers that, to a country like Yemen that would, that they're not capable of handling. And I think that, while we remain committed to closing the facility, the determination has been made that right now any additional transfers to Yemen is not a good idea. The Obama administration transferred six detainees to Yemen last month. But after reports that Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouq Abdulmuttalab was radicalized in Yemen, a bipartisan group of lawmakers including Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., protested the idea. Feinstein said the country is “too unstable.” Yemen has become another front in the war on al Qaeda, though without a US troop presence. Central Command’s Gen. David Petraeus and White House homeland security czar John Brennan have traveled there this year and the Pentagon has given that government $70 million for counterterrorism. On December 24, the US government worked with the Yemeni government on an airstrike targeting top al Qaeda leaders including imam Anwar al-Awlaki, who was quoted telling Al Jazeera Web that the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan, asked him "about killing U.S. soldiers and officers. His question was is it legitimate" under Islamic law. Almost 200 detainees remain at Gitmo, most of them Yemeni. Last May, Defense Secretary Gates discussed with Saudi Assistant Minister of the Interior Muhammed bin Nayaf the possibility of sending roughly 100 Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the Saudi government's rehabilitation program for jihadis, a 12-step program "that includes psychological counseling, art therapy, sports and lessons in Islam." But not all of those rehabbed have 12-stepped their way out of terrorism. Last year the Saudi government published a list of 85 wanted terrorism suspects. Eleven of them had been prisoners at Guantanamo put through the Saudi rehabilitation program, including Said Ali al-Shihri, transferred from Guantanamo during the Bush administration in 2007, currently deputy leader of al Qaeda's Yemen branch. Al-Shihri was also targeted in the December 24 airstrike."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/01/president-obama-suspending-gitmo-detainee-transfers-to-yemen.html

i was hoping to find how many total have been released to Yemen since Gitmo transfers began but haven't had any luck yet. Found the following though

Quote :

"Indeed, government documents indicate more than 500 detainees were released or transferred from Guantanamo while George W. Bush was president. A White House executive order issued on the second day of Obama's presidency said, "The federal government has moved more than 500 such detainees from Guantánamo, either by returning them to their home country or by releasing or transferring them to a third country.""

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jun/18/steny-hoyer/hoyer-correct-500-guantanamo-detainees-were-releas/

It's probably safe to assume a good deal of the >500 released/transfered were shipped off to Yemen.


[Edited on January 5, 2010 at 5:56 PM. Reason : /]

1/5/2010 5:33:31 PM

Quote :

"Yemen is actually quite beautiful ..."

..and it's fun to say.

1/5/2010 5:52:35 PM

^ Not as fun as "Uighurs," though.

1/6/2010 7:24:05 AM

^anything else to add? Surely you can concoct some disingenuous reasons why Obama and the administration are completely mshandling the situation in Yemen. Lay it on us.

Quote :

"Yemeni Forces Reportedly Surround Compound of Al Qaeda Leader"

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,582156,00.html

1/6/2010 10:48:31 AM

its beyond me why some tourists visit these volatile regions. yes they have stuff to offer...but you might want to wait for stability.

then again, it probably won't happen during our lifetime.

1/6/2010 11:18:18 AM

completely agree Teg. it's the same with Israel i never understood. back when the violence was real bad, there were all kinds of people going there to study and do the tourist thing. in my mind you gotta be crazy to do something like that, just asking to be killed or kidnapped.

1/6/2010 12:01:28 PM

^^^ I was simply attempting to add a bit of humor to the discussion. I mean, I can't muster "ain't it awful" with every post, man.

Concerning Obama's approach to Yemen, we'll see. My main objection is the Obama administration's overall attitude and approach concerning terror and the war that is upon us--I'm sure that there are specifics involving Yemen that the Obama administration has handled improperly, but they would hardly be alone in this.

1/6/2010 12:24:59 PM

What's the problem with the approach, so far, in Yemen?

We've been involved in Yemen for quite a while now, but unlike the situation in Afganistan here we're able to work WITH the existing government (which has zero desire to become a target for our military). There hasn't been much in the way of helping them yet, but that needs to change.

That's my problem with Mrs. Clinton's statement. The government in Yemen has been doing what they can, but they're running out of oil for money, their nation wasn't even one of the wealthy Arab states to begin with, and they don't get the kind of international aid necessary to wage a full-on war against the terrorist cells in their country.

Fuck Iran, leave them to Israel. If the chickenhawks out there want to do something useful with our military they should call for us to offer our services to the Yemeni government in clearing out their trash.

[Edited on January 6, 2010 at 1:07 PM. Reason : /]

1/6/2010 1:06:19 PM

According to Colbert, rearranging the letters in "YEMEN" makes them read "ENEMY".

Undeniable proof, right there.

1/6/2010 1:54:52 PM

^^I feel like you haven't looked into this enough and/or don't appreciate the nauances of accepting help from the united states, especially military assistane (actual boots on the ground helping to conduct raids) in a middle eastern country. That shit will NEVER fly in Yemen.

As it is now, we have significantly increased monetary aid for counter-terrorism in Yemen. We've also got boots on the ground helping to train Yemeni forces in counter-terror operations. All of this has been largely under wraps and for good reason. Yemen is already struggling with increased civilian discontent due to diminishing oil revenue as you mentioned. They're also dealing with separatists in southern Yemen who want to return the country to North and South Yemen. The government, that at the moment is open to stealthly cooperating with us, is terribly fragile. Any outright US military support/cooperation would be disasterous for the Yemeni government and in turn for the US.

[Edited on January 6, 2010 at 2:02 PM. Reason : .]

1/6/2010 2:00:55 PM

^ The reports that I have seen indicate that Yemen's military is much more capable than that of, say, Iraq. I realize that these are degrees of not-so-good, but we can't expect the military forces of Third World countries to be on par with ours.

1/6/2010 2:22:46 PM

Who said they should be? I'm not sure to what your reply is in reference.

1/6/2010 2:40:57 PM

^ The latter comment was simply an aside.

1/6/2010 3:17:35 PM

More on Yemen. Like i said, it's doomed.

Quote :

" Yemen's coming disaster Its oil is expected to run out in 2017, but Yemen hasn't planned for its young, poverty-ridden population's post-oil future. By Richard Fontaine and Andrew Exum January 5, 2010 The Nigerian Islamist who allegedly attempted to detonate a bomb on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has brought Yemen once again into the spotlight as a breeding ground for terrorists. Abdulmutallab is thought to have trained with Yemen's Al Qaeda affiliate, and the group has claimed credit for the failed attack. Yemen has long been a place of concern. Last month, before the attempted airliner bombing, the United States facilitated a missile attack against two suspected Al Qaeda strongholds in Yemen. And over the weekend, the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital city of Sana was closed because of security concerns. But terrorism is just one of the threats the deteriorating situation in Yemen poses to U.S. interests. Over the last few years, Yemen has been hurtling toward a disaster that could dramatically harm the interests of both the United States and its regional partners. An active insurgency in the north, a separatist movement in the south and a resurgent Al Qaeda franchise inside its borders present the Yemeni government with difficult short-term challenges. And managing the country's longer-term problems is likely to prove even tougher. Yemen's economy depends heavily on oil production, and its government receives the vast majority of its revenue from oil taxes. Yet analysts predict that the country's petroleum output, which has declined over the last seven years, will fall to zero by 2017. The government has done little to plan for its post-oil future. Yemen's population, already the poorest on the Arabian peninsula and with an unemployment rate of 35%, is expected to double by 2035. An incredible 45% of Yemen's population is under the age of 15. These trends will exacerbate large and growing environmental problems, including the exhaustion of Yemen's groundwater resources. Given that a full 90% of the country's water is used for agriculture, this trend portends disaster. This confluence of political, ideological, economic and environmental forces will render Yemen a fertile ground for the training and recruitment of Islamist militant groups for the foreseeable future. More than 100 Yemenis have been incarcerated in Guantanamo since 2002. And today, Internet message boards linked to Al Qaeda encourage fighters from across the Islamic world to flock to Yemen. The country is home to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has carried out attacks in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Yemen's role as a haven for transnational terror groups with global reach could easily continue to grow. President Obama has stated his intention to work with the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan to eliminate havens in those countries for terror groups such as Al Qaeda. This could make Yemen an even more attractive place for would-be terrorists. Recent Saudi offensives against insurgents in northern Yemen, together with a Saudi naval blockade of the Yemeni coast, demonstrate how seriously other countries on the Arabian peninsula take the threat that instability in Yemen could radiate outward. U.S. policy should aim to bring Yemen back from the brink, mitigating the risk to the rest of the peninsula by increasing the country's domestic stability. This task will not be achieved easily, quickly or inexpensively, and the use of force alone won't be sufficient. Any effective strategy must combine security assistance with mediation efforts, development, regional engagement and an effective communications approach. Since 2001, U.S. policy has focused mostly on counter-terrorism. Given the threat posed not just by terrorism but by the potential for nationwide instability, the United States should move toward a broader relationship with Yemen, still focusing strongly on counter-terrorism but also on economic development and improved governance. The U.S. approach should publicly stress the comprehensive relationship that America seeks with Yemen. In so doing, the U.S. can build on the ad hoc, uncoordinated efforts of numerous international players in Yemen -- from Europe, the Persian Gulf states, Jordan and Japan, among others. This could start with a new international donor's conference, including a "contract with Yemen" that would provide aid in response to steps taken by the government to address issues of corruption, governance and human rights. No amount of foreign assistance will cure Yemen's deeply entrenched economic, social and political problems. Yet in light of our compelling national interest in avoiding a failed state in Yemen, the United States has reason to devote even greater resources to the effort than it does today. Over the weekend, Obama pledged to double aid to Yemen, but this money must be spent strategically. Several areas are ripe for foreign help, including training and equipping counter-terrorism forces, bolstering border security and building the capacity of the coast guard, expanding counterinsurgency advice to the Yemeni government and expanding programs focused on basic governance and anti-corruption. A key challenge will be encouraging Yemen's government to confront Al Qaeda, something it has not been sufficiently willing to do up to now. The government's repeated battles against Houthi insurgents in the north have claimed resources that might otherwise have been directed at Al Qaeda elements. It is thus worth exploring whether mediation aimed at a political settlement of that conflict is achievable. In addition, the U.S. should privately make clear that the degree of political support it extends to the government of Yemen will depend directly on its taking action on the array of issues that concern Washington. The goal of U.S. foreign policy toward Yemen should be for the country to emerge as a stable, functioning state, one that presents no sanctuary for transnational terrorist groups. U.S. policy alone can't bring this about. It can, however, attempt to mitigate the worst of the coming challenges that will plague Yemen. Richard Fontaine is a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and traveled to Yemen with a Senate delegation in August. Andrew Exum is a fellow at the center. "

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-fontaineexum5-2010jan05,0,5758223.story

1/6/2010 10:42:03 PM

shit just got real as the main airport in saudi arabia was targetted.

11/4/2017 4:43:41 PM

ttt

5/2/2019 7:36:22 PM

Yemen war dead could hit 233,000 by 2020 in what UN calls ‘humanity’s greatest preventable disaster’

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/yemen-war-death-toll-un-houthi-gulf-saudi-arabia-arms-a8892926.html

Quote :

"It warned that if a proper ceasefire is not brokered by the end of the year, the total number of dead could rise to 233,000, with 60 per cent of the deceased being children under the age of five. The UN’s projected count includes 102,000 killed in combat and 131,000 who will die due to a lack of food, health services and infrastructure in the war. It represents a significant increase on the latest death toll, compiled by global mapping group the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled), which said last week 70,000 people have died in the war since 2016."

5/3/2019 12:12:14 AM

Feels weird that Ukraine is getting so much attention when our ally is still starving yemen

3/11/2022 1:25:41 AM