Understanding Yemen
This primer on Yemen over at the Coming Anarchy blog is very solid. As with so much of what haooens in the world, a sophisticated understanding of local complexities (and history) is essential as policymakers decide on amongst varying courses of action.
Yemen has surged to the forefront of counterterror policy since the Detroit "Underwear Bomber" incident indicated the Nigerian attacker received training, etc. from al-Qaeda affiliates within that nation. Yemen has also become a focal point of a supposed proxy war between the Sunni Saudis and Shia Iranians.
What shoud America's involvement be? This is a legitimate and complicated question. One interested should read the entire piece, but here is an interesting sampling,
"Yemen is probably the most misunderstood international story in the Western mass media since… well, Uganda in September 2009. As was the case during the Uganda uprising, I believe the problem originates in the ignorance of regionalism in Yemen, or as Professor Harm J. De Blij has written time and time again: geography matters.
Yemen has surged to the forefront of counterterror policy since the Detroit "Underwear Bomber" incident indicated the Nigerian attacker received training, etc. from al-Qaeda affiliates within that nation. Yemen has also become a focal point of a supposed proxy war between the Sunni Saudis and Shia Iranians.
What shoud America's involvement be? This is a legitimate and complicated question. One interested should read the entire piece, but here is an interesting sampling,
"Yemen is probably the most misunderstood international story in the Western mass media since… well, Uganda in September 2009. As was the case during the Uganda uprising, I believe the problem originates in the ignorance of regionalism in Yemen, or as Professor Harm J. De Blij has written time and time again: geography matters.
There are two major yet unrelated conflicts taking place in Yemen—the Sunni and Al Qaeda-linked separatist threat in the central south of the country (a major concern of the United States) and a Shia uprising in the north (alarming to the Yemenis and Saudis, possibly supported by Iran, but of little relevance to the rest of the world). And carefully distinguishing between the two is critical to keep the US out of a real quagmire."
Posted by Greg R Lawson at 12/15/2011 4:48 PM 
Categories: Yemen alQaeda Shia Sunni SaudiArabia WarOnTerror
Tags: Yemen alQaeda Shia Sunni SaudiArabia WarOnTerror
Categories: Yemen alQaeda Shia Sunni SaudiArabia WarOnTerror
Tags: Yemen alQaeda Shia Sunni SaudiArabia WarOnTerror
Comments