The Hell of Fractious Tribalism
Yemen stands as the most indigent of the Arab countries, a barely-there state, with crumbling institutions and the distinction of having been the birthplace of Osama bin Laden. It has an unpopular and corrupt government, flails under a failing economy, with huge unemployment and a booming birthrate. Its oil reserves are being depleted and it faces urgent water shortages. Secessionist movements plague the country and child malnutrition is a scourge among the young.Order exists only where the central government holds sway, and this is limited; Somalia write large. The weakness of the government and its struggles against rebels in the northwest and secessionists in the south of the country reveal a conflicted government. Which does not shirk from bringing its home-grown jihadists on board to suit its purposes, while at the same time assuring its American patron that it remains a reliable partner against terrorism.
Yemen's tribal groups support al-Qaeda, and terrorists have free reign to move in and out of the country, a situation which makes Saudi Arabia more than a little nervous, since it borders Yemen, and al-Qaeda directly targets Saudi's ruling family. "Future instability in Yemen could expand a lawless zone stretching from northern Kenya, through Somalia and the Gulf of Aden, to Saudi Arabia", baldly states the director of the Yemen Forum think-tank.
Since the revelation that the Christmas Day Nigerian suicide-air-bomber trained in Yemen and might have been equipped with his explosive there, the United States and Britain have both increased their financial support for the impoverished country. Hoping to assist it to deny al-Qaeda the security foothold they look for in the tribal areas as a safe haven from whence it can embark on its attacks on Saudi Arabia and well beyond.
The government of Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is in quite the bind. Having surreptitiously in the past worked with Yemeni jihadists, hoping to secure their help in putting down the rebellious tribes seeking secession, yet knowing that al-Qaeda seeks to destroy the government. It assures the United States, its benefactor, that it can be relied upon, much as Pakistan and Afghanistan have successfully played upon the U.S. and NATO.
So the question that looms large is even though Western nations are subsumed with the concern that an ever-resurgent al-Qaeda and its far-flung affiliates and jihad-inspired allies continue to pose a bloody threat to the West, how is it that Saudi Arabia, with its vast financial reserves, cannot expend some of its treasury to assisting a fellow Arab-Muslim country and neighbour for its own defence?
Labels: Middle East, Terrorism, United States
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, January 10, 2010
<< Home