Inkwell Institute
Middle East Desk
BY now we have all heard the cheer leading or the condemnation of Obama for the situation in Libya…..you what a prick…he dithered….he is not doing enough…..on and on….conservs condemning….liberals on the fence…..progressive pissed…on and on……
I have been debating the situation growing in the ME and I do not feel that all are as similar as people think…..like Libya….it boils down to tribe vs tribe….Bahrain boils down to sunni vs shi’a (why do you think Saudi got involved….sunni!)……….and then there is Yemen…..there are many reasons for their problems and when it is settled the US may NOT like the outcome……
No where is the situation in Libya that damn important in the grander scheme of things….I know you think it is Syria….WRONG! Basically who cares about Syria…then it has to be Bahrain……that should be of minor importance right now….but it could be the big crap of the day soon……None of these….we should be looking over our shoulder at Yemen!
Yemen? Yes, Irene….Yemen!
Do you remember the USS Cole? It was anchored in Yemen when it was attacked…..and who did the deed……you recall those little pricks called Al Qeada?
The situation in Yemen is this……there have been massive protests and retaliations by the government of an unpopular leader…Pres. Saleh….the protests heave been going for a month or more……as the protests wear on he is becoming more and more feeble and unable to control let alone rule the people of Yemen…..there are whispers that he may be ready to go and leave the country to its own devices…..good right?
Hell NO! There is a massive AQ operation in Yemen and this would give them a yet another success in their war on humanity….my suggestion is to STOP worrying about Libya and someone, anyone start worrying about the fate of Yemen when Saleh takes a powder…..I think we may need all our resources when he leaves…..and that would then be the fourth Muslim country that we have inserted our might into….and that is a PR nightmare…….
Just to add fuel to the fire….while I was writing this……
Yemeni officials say Islamic militants have seized control of a southern town and carried out a deadly ambush on Yemeni soldiers in a central province, as Yemen’s weakened president tries to deal with an escalating political crisis.
The Islamist fighters captured a weapons factory and government buildings in the town of Jaar in southern Yemen’s Abyan province on Saturday, initially facing little resistance from security forces who appeared to have deserted the area
Elsewhere, suspected al-Qaida militants attacked soldiers in the central Yemen’s Marib province on Sunday, killing at least six Yemeni troops and wounding four others. Officials say the assailants also seized a Yemeni military vehicle.
While you were so damn worried about the American response to Libya……while you were so damn critical of the President in his action or inaction….Yemen is quickly becoming your next adventure in paradise……..
A good post, although I don’t agree with the “tribal description (except in the loosest sense) – the big difference between Sunni and Shi’a seems to me to be religious interpretation.
Then again, there is AQ. AQ has largely quit Afghanistan and simply moved to Yemen. The Taliban (assholes that they are) are continuing the fight of course, because they are religious fundamentalists, but AQ is a professional and instinctive terrorist organisation that wants to FIGHT. Their current cause is just the one that it is, but another would do if that went away. The leadership is in many ways anti capitalist, but the ideals they currently appear to adhere to are no more than a “flag of convenience”, in my opinion – just as with SOME of the factions of the IRA were and in some instances still are.
AQ is a problem, it’s true, yet my view is that the original strategy still holds perfectly good today, as it did in the beginning – AQ is an enemy of the West (particularly of America) and any country that supports them, or gives them protection, is an enemy as well as a result.
You will get NO agrument from me on the AQ thing….and that is my point…….AQ should be the reason we do anything in the ME, these days….and while we are farting around with the Libya thing…Yemen is about to be a major problem…..
Humanitarian? What about Syria…they are killing people daily at what point does it become humanitarian….how many must die before that happens?
The reason I say tribal is that the eastern tribes are not the Qadafi clan….and they are taking advantage of this situation for the good of the tribe, may not have a lot to do with democracy or peace even……
OK. But why does (possible) action in Yemen preclude the Libyan intervention. There are actually many similarities between what the Libyan “rebels” appear to want and some of the Paris Commune’s aims and situation. The real difference in Libya is that the Paris Rebels didn’t have a coalition to intervene and stop them being murdered wholesale by an overwhelming and heavily armed force.
As to this crap idea that democracy is a good thing (particularly in inappropriate cultures) – we will only ever know if that is true if someone tries it one day, but I doubt it will happen this century on this planet and in this reality. Who cares what their motives are as long as a) they win and b) we are seen as “friends” for once – what a leap forward that would be!
Gaddafi is an asshole, his replacement may be an asshole (swap one for another as usual), but that doesn’t meant that he isn’t our enemy and we will only know if his replacement is better when it happens – he, she, or it, couldn’t be very much worse, I think.
Syria? We can’t do everything at once, but we CAN try to do something useful (for once) in the most urgent cases. Syria may not be the nicest place on Earth, but it’s a long way from being the enemy of America that Gaddafi is.
What about America as well? I just bet THEY are killing people daily too – they’re just more circumspect about the methods used.
As to tribal… you mean like Republicans and Democrats for instance?? Sunni and Shi’a are not what I would describe as tribes. I would call it more a “gang” thing – “Gaddafi’s gang” and everyone else.
To me, all I hear it is about the rebels wanting Qadafi…I have not heard a massive call for reforms and such….they want the head of Qadafi in a bag…..and yes, the parties in the US have become a tribal situation…at least in a way…..
I have a post tomorrow on Syria and Jordan…..I realize that we cannot do it all….but what about Libya made it imperative…the deaths of civilians? that is happening in every country in the ME…..the difference is Qadafi was not our butt boy……
Well, possibly – but the fact is that Gaddafi was clearly about to slaughter tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands – that seems pretty urgent to me – just like it was in Rwanda a few years back when we all stood around wringing our hands and DID f*ck all. The result of that was genocide! Do you think that none of us has ANY responsibility to the rest of humanity, or is it only when they are going to align themselves with OUR way of thinking? If so (though I’m sure that’s not your intention) that sounds more like GOP talk???
Of course I am for the prevention of genocide….in all its forms……my point more is what is the amount of deaths that we will accept before we act? What about the Ivory Coast? It is up to its ass in blood and we are not concerned…at least in the media……I am not saying that Qadafi is NOT a little prick but rather we acted on a perception (not that it was wrong but only that it was thought to happen)….anyway Libya is a civil war….East vs West……
Dang if that is the definition of paradise, what is hell? Yup. We’ve ignored the new hotbed for terror…for a while now.
We may get caught with our heads in our butts…..Yemen should be our only major concern, right now…..Spinny check out my GOP post today and let me know what you think…..