How we lost Yemen (Not that it was fucking ours to begin with)

[cali]

(hey, maybe bombing the shit out of people in their own country isn't the most productive idea)

For much of the past four years the United States has been firing missiles into Yemen. Drones, ships, and planes have all taken part in the bombardment, carrying out at least 75 strikes -- including an alleged drone attack that killed five on the night of Monday, Aug. 5, bringing the death toll to a minimum of 600 souls, according to the best estimates.

But for all that, for all the strikes and all the dead, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) continues to attract more members, growing from 300 in 2009 to well over a thousand today. U.S. officials almost invariably refer to it as the most dangerous branch of al Qaeda's network, a designation that has remained constant since the United States started bombing Yemen in 2009. And the group, as the ongoing terrorism alert that has closed U.S. embassies has shown in dramatic fashion, remains capable of paralyzing U.S. diplomatic efforts across an entire region.

All this raises a rather simple question: Why? Why, if the U.S. counterterrorism approach is working in Yemen, as Barack Obama's administration claims, is AQAP still growing? Why, after nearly four years of bombing raids, is the group capable of putting together the type of plot that leads to the United States shuttering embassies and missions from North Africa to the Persian Gulf?

The answer is simple, if rather disheartening: Faulty assumptions and a mistaken focus paired with a resilient, adaptive enemy have created a serious problem for the United States.

<snip>
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/08/06/how_we_lost_yemen_al_qaeda

the piece is good and a help in understanding our newest war front

[cali]

1. are we doing this on purpose? is perpetual war

a plan? who the fuck benefits from this idiocy?

<snip>

The United States can target and kill someone as a terrorist, only to have Yemenis take up arms to defend him as a tribesman. In time, many of these men are drawn to al Qaeda not out of any shared sense of ideology, but rather out of a desire to get revenge on the country that killed their fellow tribesman.

<snip>

The United States can do a lot of good in Yemen, but it can also do a lot of harm. And right now it is playing a dangerous game, firing missiles at targets in the hopes that it can kill enough men to keep AQAP from plotting, planning, and launching an attack from Yemen. After this terrorism alert that has sent America's entire diplomatic and intelligence operatives in nearly two dozen countries scrambling, it may be time to rethink that approach in favor of a strategy that's more sustainable -- and more sensible too.

[cali]

2. this is an awfully informative piece

[hobbit709]

3. Winning hearts and minds by blowing them to smithereens. Where have we heard this before?

[cali]

4. I guess that's not the point

I'm beginning to think that this isn't about being inept or ignorant.

that sounds so crazy but honestly how can we keep following the same disastrous policies over and over and over?

[hobbit709]

5. Country Joe had it right.

"Come on Wall Street, don't be slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go
There's plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of it's trade, '

[cali]

6. that is so depressing.

The whole thing in Yemen is such a fuck up. The more I research it, the more my heart sinks.

[Ichingcarpenter]

7. That place is a cluster fuck with US troops there?

Obama said in 2010 that he had "no intention of sending U.S. boots on the ground" to Yemen. But Army Gen. David Petraeus, now head of the CIA, offered to secretly put U.S. special operations troops in the country, leaked State Department cables show. Then-President Saleh rebuffed his proposal, the cables show.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-troops-officially-in-yemen-2012-5#ixzz2bNrlcfbR



Yemen: U.S. troops directly guiding four-front assault on Qaeda militants for first time



AP) SANAA, Yemen - Yemeni warplanes and troops backed by heavy artillery waged a four-front assault on al Qaeda militants Tuesday, trying to uproot their hold in the southern desert with the help of a team of U.S. troops at a nearby air base.

The central U.S. role in the operation would be a significant stepping up of American-Yemeni cooperation against al Qaeda's local branch, which is accused of a string of attempted attacks against U.S. targets.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57434370/yemen-u.s-troops-directly-guiding-four-front-assault-on-qaeda-militants-for-first-time/

Religion in Yemen consists primarily of two principal Islamic religious groups; 55% of the Muslim population is Sunni[108] and 45% is Shiite according to the UNHCR.



Human Rights


The government and its security forces, often considered to suffer from rampant corruption,[71] have been responsible for torture, inhumane treatment, and extrajudicial executions. There are arbitrary arrests of citizens, especially in the south, as well as arbitrary searches of homes. Prolonged pretrial detention is a serious problem, and judicial corruption, inefficiency, and executive interference undermine due process. Freedom of speech, the press, and religion are all restricted.[72] Journalists who tend to be critical of the government are often harassed and threatened by the police.[39]


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen#Human_rights

[cali]

8. Thanks. Yep. U.S. troops doing training

for a corrupt government.

Round and round we go.