Share this
Twitter
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Yahoo
Googlize this
Facebook
Export PDF
Print
E-mail
For the United States, the war against terror seems to be without end. The face of terrorism has been Al Qaeda, a network with many heads and limbs, so that although the US tries to pound them down in Afghanistan or Iraq, they eventually surface again.
That terrorism continues to thrive was brought home to President Barack Obama’s administration with the failed bombing attempt of a Detroit-bound flight last Christmas. 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, was caught in the act of trying to ignite a bomb sewn into his underwear. Although Abdulmutallab was apprehended before he could endanger the 300 passengers and crew aboard the plane, he succeeded in catching the US government’s attention.
America’s eye is now turned on the group which took responsibility for training Abdulmutallab and sending him on his mission – the Al Qaeda group in Yemen.
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
The Republic of Yemen, an impoverished Middle Eastern nation, has “emerged as the center of Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate.”
Observers have pointed out in previous years that Yemen is an ideal “haven” for the terrorist group. In addition to crippling poverty, the nation’s central government has little control over heavily-armed tribal groups that thrive in outlying areas.
Internal turmoil has also increased, in the form of Shiite rebels in the north of the capital Sana’a and clashes between protestors and security forces over the secessionist movement in the south. The terrorist network is said to be gathering recruits, especially from the South.
"I think what we've seen over the past several years in Yemen is an increasing strengthening of Al Qaeda forces," said John Brennan, Obama’s assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism. "There are several hundred al Qaeda members there."
"This is not the first time this group has targeted us," added Obama about Al Qaeda’s Yemen-based arm. “They have bombed Yemeni government facilities and Western hotels, restaurants and embassies -- including our embassy in 2008."
Following the failed Christmas Day bombing, similar “indications that Al Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of Sana’a” forced the US and British embassies in the country to close.
"We are very concerned about Al Qaeda's continued growth there, but they're not just focused on Yemen," said Brennan. "They are, in fact, looking toward the West."
What is Obama doing?
The Christmas Day attack on the Detroit flight, described by the BBC as a “potentially catastrophic failure of intelligence” and a cause for much “embarrassment and anger” has forced the president of the United States to re-think his approach against terrorism.
Previously, the Obama administration had been keen on avoiding the Bush-era method of openly declaring its ongoing efforts against Al Qaeda, which according to Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano generated a “politics of fear.” This was also an attempt to repair the image of the US, especially with the Muslim world.
As pointed out by Canada.com the Obama administration took care to avoid using words like "war" or "terrorist" when referring to the US military operations abroad. Instead they were "overseas contingency operations" and "violent extremists."
Following the failed bombing however, the US has gone back on the offensive.
“We are at war. We are at war against al-Qaeda,” said Obama. “And we will do whatever it takes to defeat them.”
In early January, Obama met with spy agency chiefs and other heads of national security agencies to “outline a series of reforms” in the system that let Abdulmutallab slip through. The reforms included heightened security measures, improved intelligence-sharing for US national security and counterterrorism operations, and a review of the US terror watch list system.
"These reforms will improve the intelligence community's ability to collect, share, integrate, analyze and act on intelligence swiftly and effectively," said Obama. "In short, they will help our intelligence community do its job even better and protect American lives."
Political advisor Scott Payne agreed that security reforms had to be implemented. "[Intelligence] agencies are better than they were before 9/11. But we are still not where we need to be," he said. "We have done a lot of good things in terms of streamlining the intel process but there is certainly a way to go."
US Pres. Barack Obama: "We know [the bomber] came from Yemen...We are working with the Yemeni government to beef up security." (AP)
The war continues
In addition to reforms, Obama plans on asking the American Congress for an additional $33 billion to continue military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, for which the latter already has allotted US$128 billion (P5.87 trillion) for this year.
The Washington Post reports that the additional financing will be used to bring in 30,000 more troops into the fray, in keeping with the administration’s central military objectives for the next four years, which will “include winning the current wars while preventing new ones and that its core missions will include both counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations.”
The US is currently refraining from sending troops to Yemen, instead doubling its financial aid to the Yemeni government in their efforts to crack down not only on Al Qaeda but local rebel groups as well.
“The issues such as Al Houthi terrorist gang in Sadah Province and acts of chaos by elements belonging to Al Qaeda movements in the southern provinces are all issues that come within the internal Yemeni matter,” said Yemen’s foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi.
Pundits have agreed that it is best for the US to keep its soldiers at bay. According to Sky News’s Tim Marshall, “Experts agree that any foreign intervention here would unite tribes against what would be seen as invaders, and that Yemen could become another Iraq.”
An editorial at the Globe and Mail similarly warns, “As Western countries rush to concentrate interest and pressure on Yemen, history is apt to repeat itself.”
“Al-Qaeda is a master of flexibility. Like a balloon, squeezing it in one place won't necessarily cause it to rupture. The air will simply move from one part of the balloon to concentrate in another,” it said. “A coordinated approach is necessary to take the air out of Al Qaeda's capabilities, simultaneously denying it friendly operating conditions globally instead of taking an expensive and ineffective piecemeal approach.”
Photo: “100109-F-0212J-039” by ISAF Headquarters Public Affairs Office, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved.
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
