Small Wars Journal

Yemen, 10 Reasons to Worry

Tue, 10/19/2010 - 9:48am

More on Yemen, complementing the prior post on the

Yemeni perspective on Al Qaida. Here's a 3 minute video outlining 10 of Yemen's

significant internal problems.  The video is part of the

NATO Review edition 05/2010 titled: "Yemen:

danger ahead?". See also Why al Quaida chose Yemen for Faris Sanabani's analysis.

Comments

Tukhachevskii (not verified)

Wed, 10/20/2010 - 5:38am

This would be a perfect opportunity for NATO, the US and anyone else interested to stay away. What? Yep. You heard me right. Saudi Arabia's chickens have come home to roost. They've been funding Sunni insurgencies for decades and nows the time for them to face up to the consequences of their actions. AQAP is perhaps the single most dangerous threat posed to the Saudi monarchy. Its's time we let them deal with it. They've already got units on their side of the border interdicting the Houthi insurgency (unfortunately for the Houthi who are more sinned against than sinning). It's about time the Arab states (Saudi and the GCC) staretd taking care of their own affairs and their own back garden. Perhaps, along the way, they'll learn to appreciate (and perhaps even respect) their "alliance" with the US and other Western countries rather than sitting back and letting us put out a fire they have started onyl to free ride on the support we give them only to pump funds back into and turn a blind eye to Sunni (and Shia') insurgents. It's a great time for them to start taking responsibility for their actions. On the other hand, China has a huge presence in Yemen and is interested in the LPG projects currently underway (not mentioned above, perhaps because the intial investments may not actually yield any meaningful return). China has practically built up Yemen's infrasturtcure anyway and, frankly speaking, handing oover one of the keys of the world (the Bab Al-Mandeb straits) may actual turn China into a responsible player in world politics, help share the burden and maybe even....do some good in the long term. The Yemeni's wouldn't feel the same way about Chinese "advisors" as they would about Americans (Yemeni's respect strength and China's actions in Xinjiang actually make them a stronger power in Arab eyes, whereas our pussyfooting around is seen as abject weakness). Ramble/Rant over.