Yemen: all you want (2011-2015)

[davidbfpo]

Which ends with, in abbreviated form:

The United States and its international allies will have a limited window of opportunity to get things right in Yemen. No longer can the American government insist on seeing the country only through the prism of terrorism.....

Think of it as a strategic investment to defeat the current generation of terrorists and to prevent the formation of future ones.....

This may well be the West’s last chance in Yemen. If Mr. Saleh falls and the international community fails this time, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula will be waiting in the wings to take advantage of the situation....

Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/op...rssnyt&emc=rss

[Tukhachevskii]

A friend of mine, a young activist with Islah and my former Arabic teacher, standing on what he calls the front lines has sent me a website belonging to the umbrella organisation called the "Youth Revolution"; the site is here (it's in Arabic, but has a section in English). According to him 52 people were killed in the last few days. Of course I can't verify that myself. I saw some of the pictures, saw streets I've walked down myself and I don't recognise it (i.e., I can't believe what I'm seeing not I don't recognise the streets).

His father in law is a Col. in the Ymeeni Army, I'll ask him to find out what the mood is.... may not get an answe though as the Yemeni web has intermittent service at the best of times o could be being blocked (as it usually is).

[tequila]

Talks on fate of Yemen's embattled President snag - AP

SANAA, Yemen – Allies of Yemen's president and his political opponents failed to make progress Saturday in talks on a possible exit for the man who has led the nation through 32 years of growing poverty and conflict and whose rule is now deeply imperiled by a popular uprising.

As the political turmoil deepened, there were signs that Islamic militants in the remote reaches of the country were seeking to make gains on the situation. Residents and witnesses in the small town of Jaar in the south said suspected al-Qaida militants moved down from an expanse of mountains on Saturday to seize control there a few weeks after police fled, setting up checkpoints and occupying vacant government buildings.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh argued in a TV interview that without him, the country would be at grave risk of breaking apart.

"Yemen is a ticking bomb and if the political system collapses and there's no constructive dialogue there will be a long civil war that will be difficult to end," he told the Al-Arabiya network ...

[Dayuhan]

Re this...

The United States and its international allies will have a limited window of opportunity to get things right in Yemen. No longer can the American government insist on seeing the country only through the prism of terrorism.....

Think of it as a strategic investment to defeat the current generation of terrorists and to prevent the formation of future ones.....

This may well be the West’s last chance in Yemen. If Mr. Saleh falls and the international community fails this time, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula will be waiting in the wings to take advantage of the situation....

I have to note that the author does not say what "getting it right in Yemen" would be, or how "The United States and its international allies" could go about "getting it right". He talks about "if the international community fails", but gives no indication of what he wants the international community to do.

The idea that the US and international allies, or the international community, or all the King's horses and all the King's men, can somehow "fix" Yemen seems quite outside the realm of possibility to me.

[Bill Moore]

Posted by Tukhachevskii

the umbrella organisation called the "Youth Revolution"; the site is here (it's in Arabic, but has a section in English).

Interesting, but not a lot substance on the English portion of the site. What is the purpose? Who is the intended audience? I didn't see a means to coordinate future actions?

[Tukhachevskii]

Posted by Tukhachevskii



Interesting, but not a lot substance on the English portion of the site. What is the purpose? Who is the intended audience? I didn't see a means to coordinate future actions?

Hey Bill,

From what he tells me its intended primarily for domestic consumption, to create lines of communication, co-ordinate action and, of course, propaganda (i.e., to propagate the movement rather than disinformation). Apparently, it's only just got up and running, again Yemeni internet's not the most reliable being susceptible to being shutdown/restricted.

[Azor]

According to "World Conflict Films" a Saudi PAC-2 intercepted a Houthi Scud...any truth here?

(Added by Moderator the link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p70xfVFKXyg )

[CrowBat]

One can't really say with anything with something like 100% guarantee about this conflict, then both... nah: ALL sides involved are meanwhile lying so much.

Anyway: yes, the Iranians claim that Houthis and YA units still loyal to them (that would make the latter one of three brigades of the Missile Force), have hit RSNG base in Najran.

...and Saudis claim to have intercepted that missile, and then found the TEL and that fired the missile and killed it too.

But then, that's meanwhile a kind of 'standard' claim by both sides: this must've been something like 40th (claimed) interceptions so far, and if - then usually this is done by Saudi PAC-3s. Only thing they change in their releases is the target.

BTW, note that Iranians claim the 'Houthis' have 'sunk nine Saudi warships' too. Now, it does seem that the YA's missile force has got a few Iranian-made and truck-mounted C.802s, no doubt about this. But, the 'video-evidence' they're showing for latest such attack is a video of a USN training shot...