Yemen - a catch all thread for 2007-2011
Moderator's note 31/12/09: new thread for Yemen created, merging several old threads to give background to a country that is expected to feature more in 2010.
27 May LA Times - Modern Yemen Embraces the Tribe by Megan Stack.
Quote:
... Pervasive and often overlooked by outsiders, the ancient network of tribes remains one of the most potent forces in the Middle East. The tribes are older than the nations and borders that carve up the Arab world, older than the oil industry, older than the governments in the United States or Europe. They are an older — and, some believe, an even stronger — social force than Islam.
Rather than withering away as the Arab world succumbs to modernity, tribes are only getting more powerful. Weak central governments, civil war in Iraq, an identity crisis born of the clash between modernity and tradition — all of these factors have fortified the role of the tribes...
Somali refugees 'forced to join Yemen rebel war'
From the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/mid...st/8416285.stm
Quote:
Hundreds of Somali refugees are being forced at gunpoint to join rebels fighting in northern Yemen, a Somali diplomat in Aden has told the BBC.
Yemen - a catch all thread for 2010
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the desert
Not a creature was stirring, not even a terrorist;
Their AK’s were placed on the floor with care,
In hopes that Osama soon would be there;
The jihadists were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of 72 virgins danc'd in their heads,
When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,
They sprang from their bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window they flew like a flash,
tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash.
When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,
but warplanes armed to the gills.
Link
Quote:
Yemen's military hit suspected al-Qaida hideouts, possibly killing a radical cleric linked to the U.S. Army major accused of the Fort Hood mass shooting, as a gathering of top militant leaders was targeted in a remote mountain valley Thursday in strikes carried out with U.S. intelligence help, officials said.
At least 30 militants were believed to be killed in the second such strike in a week. Pentagon officials could not confirm Thursday whether radical cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki was killed in the strike.
Merry Christmas.
NY Times: U.S. quietly takes terror war to Yemen
Given recent events, it seems that Yemen is figuring more prominently into our, umm, overseas contingency operations.
U.S. quietly takes terror war to Yemen
Covert front against al-Qaida was opened a year ago, military officers say
Quote:
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.
A year ago, the Central Intelligence Agency sent many 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.