‘We don’t want to be Iraq’

Steven Sotloff writes:

Though the foiled plot to mail packages filled with bombs to synagogues in Chicago has bumped congressional midterm elections as the top story in the United States, here in Yemen it has caused barely a ripple. While Washington focuses on combating the regional al-Qaeda affiliate believed to be behind the plot, Yemenis are much more concerned with a sectarian rebellion in the north, a secession movement in the south and the economic crisis that has crippled the country.

Most Yemenis are unaware that the packages that caused heightened concerns in the United States originated in their country, because the Saleh government has muted coverage of the story in the local press.

Washington’s policies of drone strikes coupled with high-profile military and diplomatic visits risk further alienating an already hostile Yemeni population and driving them into the arms of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the local al-Qaeda affiliate the Obama administration is so focused on neutralizing.

“Americans come here and attack without knowing what is going on,” as one Yemeni put it. “We don’t want to be Iraq. This is an American war, not Yemen’s, and we don’t want to be a part of it.”

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2 thoughts on “‘We don’t want to be Iraq’

  1. Ian Arbuckle

    “al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the local al-Qaeda affiliate the Obama administration is so focused on neutralizing”

    Right, just another phantom to attack. How much is this GWOT worth?

    The Sana’a administration is hardly in control of its country. The Saudi’s are more than involved with arresting influence and control of its volatile southern neighbour.

    For the mere price of a couple of parcel bombs, whoever AQAP is, they managed to get lot’s of military and whatever other support Sana’a needs to suppress “terror” which, like in Pakistan can be defined by them as any opponent designated by whoever….. again we have licence to cause havoc.. Good for the Saudis, Good for the weak and poor regime in Sana’a as anti terror dollars, Blackwater or CIA type personnel, and equipment start flowing in, and good for the Washington hawks who need to keep fear alive and the filthy lucre in the GWOT flowing.

    Now “they” didn’t make as much this time as they did from the insurance, the missing gold plus the “put orders”, as they did on 9/11 but what the heck, the costs of the venture were pretty low too to keep the GWOT alive and spreading.

    Is there anyone else out there who is as certain as I am that whenever we are told by the MSM that it has got all the hallmarks of al Qaeda or its affiliates, it means that the operation is in actual fact being conducted by some deep covert branch of infiltrated double agents who get their orders from behind some curtain in Langley WV. I have no doubt that the US, just like the Israel, uses terrorism as an excuse to further their illegal foreign policy agenda in any way and anywhere they want and have their terrorists on tap whenever they need. Remember who trained Bin Laden…. Or Tim Osman?

    Can one really believe that the Saudis didn’t have something more than just “intelligence information” to do with shipping those so called “bombs”? How nicely it always fits the planned agenda just as the planning of aggression in Afghanistan, and writing of the “patriot act” all pre-empted 9/11.

    But hey, call me a conspiracy theorist and just believe the scenario you’re given by the “authorities”… You know they’d never lie!

  2. rosemerry

    you are writing as if you believe this very convenient “act” which conveniently fuels the terrorism mania in the USA

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