In one of his most recent posts, the author of "We The People," Ryan Ferguson talks about the looming danger that Pakistan poses. The threat of Pakistan distributing WMDs to terrorist forces is indeed a serious problem and a main concern for our national security. However, Pakistan is not the only issue of concern for our Homeland Security. It seems that as our attention on Al Qaeda strongholds in one area of the Middle East increases, the terrorists will shift their base of operations elsewhere. In this case they shift to the country of Yemen.
Yemen, the site of the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, has always been a terrorist hotspot. The country’s poor infrastructure as well as a weak economy has bread a place where terrorist organizations can consider themselves in a safe haven. The country is the poorest in the Middle East, oil production has decreased by almost 40 %, Shi-ite movements in the northern part of the country have caused Civil War, and in the south secessionists are trying to break away from the government. While the Yemeni government attempts to cooperate with counterterrorist efforts, their plate is too full and Al Qaeda has gained the location, time, and ability to recruit and train.
The terrorist forces within the Middle East all have their own ideologies, Al Qaeda differs from Hamas and so forth, yet Al Qaeda forces from Yemen have been moving into Gaza to start global jihadist groups, vastly different from the local Palestinian Islamic Jihadist nature of Hamas. Yemen is also the site where the Christmas Day bomber gained his training and traveled from. So with all of this terrorist activity coming through Yemen what is the US doing about it?
An interview with Christopher Voss, terrorism expert and managing director of Inside Security, reveals that the United States has been working with the Yemeni government providing intelligence, showing the locations of terrorist targets, and helping the Yemenis to operationalize their strikes against the terrorist forces. This method has proven highly successful as 15 of the top terrorist leaders in Yemen have been taken out. However, just as the organization is fluid enough to move from country to country, a new leader will emerge to fill the power vacuum left by our counterterrorist efforts. In this case Anwar Al-Awlaki, a US citizen born in New Mexico that moved to Yemen, responsible for the planning behind the Christmas Day bomber has risen to the leadership position of terrorist forces in Yemen. The hunt for Al-Awlaki continues, and although training the Yemenis to combat the terrorists themselves has proved fruitful, greater US involvement may become necessary as Al Qaeda continually gains a stronger foothold in Yemen.
Public Square - Revolt & Revolution
14 years ago
There's a TV series named Sleeper Cell thats eerily reminiscent of what you describe. Focusing on one of the hydra's heads only gives them time to create two more and get us even more sidetracked from the goal at hand. A key difference between conventional warfare and what we're now facing. Moreover, even in the places we do have intelligence and choose to involve ourselves we often can't distinguish friend from foe. The battle lines might be drawn but not knowing who your enemies are certainly may be reason to be kept up at night.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in that Yemen is grossly underestimated as a terror threat to the United States, both by the U.S. government and the general public. In adding to your argument, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the Nigerian man who made the Christmas Day bomb attempt on the Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, allegedly has Al Qaeda ties in Yemen. The real danger Yemen poses was finally brought to light as a result of this incident, and I hope it is not neglected.
ReplyDeleteI agree when you say that as the United States continues to focus efforts on ending terrorism in one region of the Middle East, the base of operations for terrorist organizations shift to other regions. While it is important to focus efforts on areas that host bases of major terrorist threats, I agree with Intellectual Perfectual when he says that by focusing on one area, attention is diverted allowing organizations such as Al Qaeda to put more effort into establishing and maintaining other additional bases of operation. Yes it would be very difficult to take care of all bases of operation, but it is vital to not focus only on one region. As you have stated there are areas such as Yemen that are underestimated as terrorist threats, which really should be paid more attention.
ReplyDeleteThis is also scarily reminiscent of the Vietnam War. It's extremely difficult to fight an enemy that has the ability to hide behind a country that is so unstable economically and politically. As long as Yemen is willing and able to receive help, I feel that, as long as we aren't actually sending troops there (unless there's some attack on the US from a specific terrorist group located in Yemen), then we should be feeding the Yemen government as much information as possible to help themselves (which indirectly helps to keep us safe as well).
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