Senate Appropriations Chair Criticizes House Continuing Resolution on FY2011 Funding
February 17th, 2011 by Naureen
On Tuesday, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI) released a statement and analysis of H.R.1, the continuing resolution to fund the government through the remainder of the fiscal year, that is being considered by the House this week. “The impact of H.R.1 on the ability of the federal government to perform even some of its most basic functions is, in many instances, severe,” Inouye states. He argues that the cuts prevent the government from living up to its duties enshrined in the Constitution and do little to address the long-term fiscal challenges facing the nation: “the reductions proposed by the House were not made because programs were ineffective or wasteful, but out of desire to meet an arbitrary dollar figure cited during a political campaign.” Inouye also cites specific examples of how the proposed cuts will “directly impact the ability of the government to meet its most vital obligations.” He states that cuts to State Department and USAID budgets will hinder U.S. ability to counter terrorism abroad.
Posted in Congress, Foreign Aid, Terrorism | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Christian Minorities Under Attack - Iraq and Egypt”
January 23rd, 2011 by Alec
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hosted a hearing on discrimination and violence against Christians in Egypt and Iraq. Co-Chairman of the Commission Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) led the hearing with comments and appearances from Executive Members of the Commission Rep. Chris Smith of (R-NJ), Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), Rep. Trent Franks (AZ) as well as Rep. Rush D. Holt, Jr. (D-NJ). Testifying before the Commission were Tamara Cofman-Wittes, deputy assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs at the US State Department, Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA), Michele Dunne, senior associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Dina Guirguis, Keston Family Research Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Nina Shea, senior fellow and director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and Commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and Sister Rita (pseudonym), an Iraqi Catholic nun.
To read full notes continue below, or click here for pdf. For full testimony, click here.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Egypt, Event Notes, Iraq, Sectarianism, Terrorism | Comment »
Yemen: Central Problems are Ineffective Government, Mismanaged Economy
November 3rd, 2010 by Anna
Oliver Holmes writes at Al Jazeera that counterterrorism dollars for Yemen are missing “the crux of the problem – Yemen’s struggling economy.” By focusing their efforts on terrorism, rather than development, leaders in Washington risk ignoring the country’s worsening economic situation. The troubled economy arguably poses a bigger threat and risks “drawing [Yemenis] towards radicalization and militancy,” according to a recent Chatham House report. As Christopher Boucek of the Carnegie Middle East Program points out, “unemployment, subsidies, the failure to plan for a post-oil economy and corruption…are the biggest challenges.” As such, interventions to improve security must be balanced with efforts to improve Yemen’s political and economic development. According to one official: “The economy is highly mismanaged due to the ineffectiveness of the government,” which exacerbates frustration among the population and worsens security problems. U.S. air strikes “won’t solve anything,” notes Princeton University Yemen expert Gregory Johnsen – rather, firm commitments in development aid are needed.
Posted in Foreign Aid, Military, Terrorism, US foreign policy, Yemen | Comment »
New Authoritarian Tactics Require a Broader Approach to Internet Freedom Efforts
October 29th, 2010 by Anna
In a piece for the Weekly Standard’s blog, Kelley Currie, a fellow with the Project 2049 Institute, responded to Jackson Diehl’s column on the State Department’s failure to direct fund technology to circumvent firewalls. Currie writes that she “share[s] Diehl’s frustration with the poverty of the State Department’s efforts” but argues that “there are in fact good reasons these funds should be directed elsewhere.” She points out that the problem is not merely access, and that “circumvention technology is relatively cheap and widely available.” The broader problem is repressive governments give Internet users “just enough online freedom to keep them from feeling constrained” and do not rely just on blocking content to achieve control.
Currie concludes that “[g]iven this broader context, it is clear that the Internet freedom initiatives under consideration by the U.S. and other democracies to date are well-intentioned but woefully inadequate and poorly matched to the actual scope and nature of the problem they are intended to address.” She calls efforts that focus on anti-blocking tools “fundamentally misplaced” and calls for greater attention to be paid to these new authoritarian tactics.
Posted in Freedom, Journalism, Terrorism, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: “19th Annual Arab-US Policymakers Conference”
October 22nd, 2010 by Jason
The National Council on US-Arab Relations held its 19th annual Arab-US Policymakers Conference on Thursday. Opening remarks were made by Dr. John Duke Anthony, President and CEO of the National Council on US-Arab Relations and Rear Admiral Harold J. Bernsen, chairman of the Board of Directors at the National Council on US-Arab Relations. The first talk on the agenda was entitled “Arab-US Relations: Misadventures Past and Present,” and was given by The Honorable Chas W. Freeman Jr., former Ambassador and Assistant Secretary of Defense.
(To read full notes, continue below the fold or go here for pdf.)
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in DC Event Notes, Diplomacy, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Iraq, Islam and Democracy, Military, Neocons, Political Parties, Sectarianism, Terrorism, US foreign policy | Comment »
Yemen: U.S. Aiding “Downward Spiral” on Human Rights?
August 25th, 2010 by Jennifer
Amnesty International issued a statement today arguing that “the Yemeni authorities must stop sacrificing human rights in the name of security.” Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program, commented that “an extremely worrying trend has developed where the Yemeni authorities, under pressure from the USA and others to fight al-Qa’ida, and Saudi Arabia to deal with the Huthis, have been citing national security as a pretext to deal with opposition and stifle all criticism.” The statement notes a pattern in Yemen of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, forced disappearances, and unfair trials of those accused of involvement in Al-Qaeda, Zaidi Shi’a rebels in the north, and Southern Movement activists. The Amnesty document also observes an uptick both in the use of the death penalty as punishment, as well as the use of the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) to try critical journalists and political activists. The statement concludes, “It is particularly worrying that states such as Saudi Arabia and the USA are directly or indirectly aiding the Yemeni government in a downward spiral away from previously improving human rights record.”
Posted in Human Rights, Judiciary, Middle Eastern Media, Terrorism, US foreign policy, Uncategorized, Yemen | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Perspectives on Reconciliation Options in Afghanistan”
July 28th, 2010 by Jennifer
The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing to discuss reconciliation and reintegration in Afghanistan. Touching on issues of governance and civil institution building, the hearing was twelve in a series the Committee has held on Afghanistan in the past 18 months. The Committee—chaired by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA), with ranking Committee member Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-IN) in attendance—requested the testimony of three individuals: the Honorable Ryan C. Crocker, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Pakistan; Zainab Salbi, founder and CEO of Women for Women International; and Dr. David Kilcullen of the Center for a New American Security.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Afghanistan, Elections, Foreign Aid, Taliban, Terrorism, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Iran: The Year of Reckoning”
June 4th, 2010 by Josh
Earlier today, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars hosted an event to explore the last year of Iranian politics and U.S. diplomacy toward the Iranian regime. There were two panels of experts, each highlighting a different component of either geopolitics or internal Iranian social forces. The first, moderated by professor Shaul Bakhash of George Mason University, included: Michael Postl, former Ambassador of the Austrian Republic to Iran; and Nicholas Burns, former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs and current professor at Harvard. The second panel, moderated by professor Kaveh Ehsani from DePaul University, included: Farideh Farhi, independent scholar and affiliate graduate faculty at the University of Hawaii at Manoa; and Suzanne Malone, senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy.
Click here for POMED’s notes in PDF, or continue reading below the fold.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in DC Event Notes, Diplomacy, Elections, Freedom, Iran, Multilateralism, Reform, Terrorism, US foreign policy, United Nations, sanctions | 1 Comment »
Obama’s Cairo Speech: Assessing the Relationship Between Rhetoric and Action
June 2nd, 2010 by Josh
Ahead of the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s Cairo address, Scott Carpenter and Dina Guirguis of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy unpack the last twelve months of Middle East engagement with respect to the seven core issues identified in the speech as paramount to U.S.-Muslim relations: the need to confront violent extremism; the Arab-Israeli conflict; Iran’s drive to obtain nuclear weapons; democracy; religious freedom; women’s rights; and economic development.
Overall, Carpenter and Guirguis conclude that “tangible deliverables from the Cairo address were in short supply.” Perhaps recognizing this reality, the administration has spent the last few months “reframing the speech’s intent and legacy” away from “outreach to Muslims” and toward a notion of “global engagement” that articulated a “generational mission statement” rather than a series of initiatives. “In this context,” the authors write, “the issuance of a new National Security Strategy (NSS) just days before the Cairo anniversary is apparently no coincidence.” Yet even though the NSS strengthens what Carpenter and Guirguis view as the speech’s relative deficiencies, “Washington’s strategy remains open to the same critique as the original Cairo address.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Israel, Mideast Peace Plan, Reform, Terrorism, US foreign policy, Women | Comment »
Iraq: Ayad Allawi’s Coalition Wins Parliamentary Elections
March 26th, 2010 by Chanan
Preliminary results from the nationwide March 7th parliamentary elections show former secular prime minister Ayad Allawi ahead of current Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki by about two seats, granting the former’s Iraqiya alliance the first chance at forming a government. Allawi’s predominantly Sunni bloc received 91 seats in the 325-member parliament compared to Maliki’s 89 seats.
After the results were released, the Washington Post quotes Maliki as saying that “some of these results are unacceptable and unreasonable.” Ad Melkert, the United Nation’s representative in Iraq, disagreed saying ”it is the UN’s considered opinion that these elections have been credible and we congratulate the people of Iraq for this success.” Regardless, Julien Barnes-Dacey, an analyst at the Control Risks Group, explains in a Bloomberg article that “it doesn’t really matter who came first and who came second because it is basically a tie. Everything is up for grabs now.”
Before the results were announced and in response to a statement released by Maliki last week demanding a recount to prevent “a return to violence,” Spencer Ackerman commented that Maliki has the chance to do more for his country’s budding democracy by losing gracefully than by narrowly winning the election. “Nouri al-Maliki will secure his place in history if he becomes the first non-interim Iraqi leader to willingly relinquish power after the results of an election.”
Earlier in the day, 40 people were killed and more than 60 wounded in two bomb blasts in the Diyala province.
Posted in Elections, Iraq, Political Parties, Secularism, Terrorism, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Mauritania: Council Rejects Anti-terrorism Law
March 8th, 2010 by Josh
Following an appeal by 32 opposition members of parliament, a constitutional court declared that ten articles of Mauritania’s new terrorism law — instituted to combat Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb — are illegal under Mauritanian law. The unconstitutional provisions allow for, among other things, “preventive detention of terrorist suspects for 15 days and recording of telephone conversations and their e-mails and those of persons connected with them.” Although Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf defended the government’s good intentions when formulating the terrorism act, he deferred to the court and said that “we respect and abide by the decision.”
Posted in Mauritania, Terrorism, al-Qaeda | Comment »
Democracy Promotion: Anti-terrorism Tool?
March 4th, 2010 by Josh
“Decoupling support for democracy from the broader effort to combat terrorism and religious extremism in the Middle East would be a costly strategic misstep,” say Shadi Hamid and Steven Brooke in a feature for the latest edition of the Hoover Institution’s Policy Review. Surveying a number of reports and academic works, they conclude that political repression breeds violent extremism and that those who commit acts of terrorism are more likely to come from repressive authoritarian states.
Further, Hamid and Brooke argue that the failed Bush administration agenda to promote Middle East democracy was not a reflection of shoddy theorizing, but rather the result of insufficient and poorly resourced policies that, aside from a short period following the 2003 Iraq invasion, did little more than issue rhetorical support for democratic reforms. They propose reformulating the U.S. democratization strategy to include more stringent aid conditionality, greater funding for the Middle East Partnership Initiative and the Millennium Challenge Account, and new initiatives to unite Islamist and secular groups under pro-democracy platforms.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Reform, Terrorism, US foreign policy | Comment »
Iraq: Voting Begins Amidst Deadly Attacks
March 4th, 2010 by Josh
As thousands of soldiers, police officers, and security officials went to polls today for early voting, three separate attacks killed at least twelve people at voting stations in Baghdad. This comes after a larger attack on Wednesday that killed nearly three dozen. Still, despite the fear in some circles that the recent uptick in violence might delay the U.S. withdrawal, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell assured reporters that the president’s timeline remains unchanged, saying that “it would take an extraordinarily dire turn of events for [a delay] to be something we were to consider.”
However, the first day of voting was marred by more than just violence; thousands of citizens complained that their names were missing from the registration rolls, prompting the government to announce that anyone unable to find his or her name would be granted a provisional ballot.
Over at the National, Nir Rosen addresses “foreign analysts and reporters” who fear a civil war 2.0 by reiterating his earlier pronouncement that Iraq’s emerging stability will, in his opinion, preclude a return to sectarian violence. But Gregg Carlstrom counters, saying that there is a legitimate concern that “the de-Ba’athification crisis is an indicator of unresolved tensions — and that those tensions, coupled with Iraq’s crushing poverty and severe refugee crisis and lackluster government performance (all of which Rosen chronicles quite well), will lead to unpredictable long-term consequences.”
Elsewhere, the Arab Reform Bulletin has posted two new articles, both of which focus on Iraq and various post-election concerns. Salem Mashkour, an Iraqi journalist and candidate on the ballot, delineates the proliferation of viable political “blocs” since the 2005 contest, saying that he would not be surprised to see a cross-sectarian coalition emerge from the March 7 poll. The Bulletin’s other piece, written by professor Abbas Kadhim of the Naval Postgraduate School, chronicles the social, economic, and political consequences of Iraq’s pervasive corruption.
Posted in Elections, Iraq, Military, Political Parties, Publications, Sectarianism, Terrorism, US foreign policy | Comment »
Goldstone Report: UN Votes to Extend Time
March 1st, 2010 by Josh
Via the Majlis, the UN General Assembly voted 98-7 to grant both the Israelis and Palestinians five additional months to investigate the findings from the Goldstone Report. Although a Palestinian Authority official applauded the action as a victory for both the Palestinians and international law, Alejandro Wolff, U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the UN, criticized the resolution and reiterated the administration’s position that the report is deeply flawed (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also briefly addressed this issue in response to a question from Congressman Gary Ackerman at last week’s HCFA hearing). You can read the full GA resolution here.
Posted in Hamas, Human Rights, Israel, Military, Palestine, Terrorism, United Nations | Comment »
Libya: Snapshot of the Regime, Prospects for Reform
February 24th, 2010 by Josh
In an interesting feature for Reason’s March issue, Michael Moynihan draws upon his recent trip to Tripoli in order to elucidate what he views as Libya’s continuing stagnation despite both its tremendous oil wealth and recent efforts to engage in dialogue with the West. Highlighting notable contradictions between the government’s rhetoric of reform and ground-level realities, Moynihan recounts a number of conversations with ex-terrorists who, although touted by the government as fully rehabilitated, were actually taken off death-row or promised reduced prison sentences in exchange for renouncing political violence and aiding anti-terrorism investigations. One such individual, claiming he “saw the light” and had abandoned Islamism to work for Colonel Qaddafi’s government, defended Libya’s freedom of the speech and journalistic diversity — but when asked if one would be allowed to print an anti-Qaddafi slogan, he recoiled questioned why anyone would do that, which Moynihan interprets as an unintentional barometer of Libya’s true level of liberalism.
Despite these encounters, Moynihan retains some hope that Saif Qaddafi, Muammar Qaddafi’s son and presumed heir, will issue in a new generation of leaders that will “loosen their chokehold on power in exchange for a seat at the adult table of international politics.” But the current wave of superficial and cosmetic reforms, he says, “have brought [the Libyan people] no closer to the representative democracy Qaddafi promised 40 years ago.”
Posted in Diplomacy, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, Islamist movements, Libya, Terrorism, US foreign policy | Comment »
Iraq: New Violence Reaction to Ban on Parliamentary Candidates?
February 2nd, 2010 by Jessica
The New York Times reports on yesterday’s suicide bombing on the outskirts of Baghdad, in which approximately 38 people were killed and many more wounded. Despite official pledges to increase security surrounding the annual pilgrimage, the Times quotes one of the wounded victims, “The security forces are responsible because they were not searching anyone.” In response to the attack, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta al-Moussawi announced that some 134 soldiers and officers would face charges of dereliction of duty and negligence possibly resulting in their court martial, though several accounts of the incident indicate that the bomb was detonated in an area where women were being searched.
Though no one has claimed responsibility, Iraqpundit suggests that the attack, aimed at Shi’a pilgrims, is an escalation of tensions related to the parliamentary elections scheduled for March. He theorizes that the attacks are in response to the exclusion from the upcoming elections of more than 500 candidates based on religious affiliations. The author questions the wisdom of the U.S. and UN position that the Iraq elections are an internal problem, pointing out that submitting to the power of a few corrupt individuals within the government may shift Iraq’s democracy “into another farce of a political system like other countries that claim to be democratic in the region.”
News of the attacks coincide with reports that prominent candidate Sheikh Ahmad Abu Risha has threatened to boycott the upcoming election in response to the governments ban of 500 candidates from the ballot. Abu Risha is the head of the Sahwa, or Awakening, and one of the strongest U.S. allies in the region. An AP report quotes Abu Risha on Iraqi participation in the election should so many remain banned from the election, “They will not care about the election - they will ignore it, maybe if these decisions stand.” While some of the 500 candidates have been reinstated, some 456 remain banned. Of those, seven belong to Abu Risha’s Awakening Council and 70 others are candidates within the Unity Alliance of Iraq political coalition, which Abu Risha also helps lead.
Posted in Elections, Iraq, Reform, Terrorism | Comment »
Afghanistan: Taliban Intensifies Attacks in Advance of International Conference
January 19th, 2010 by Jessica
Dexter Filkins of the New York Times reports in an article entitled, “Kabul Attack Shows Resilience of Afghan Militants,” on the attack made by Taliban militants early Monday morning in the city of Kabul. According to Filkins’ article a total of five people were killed during the course of the attacks with another 71 being injured. The assault, consisting of a group of militants and two suicide bombers, took place in a busy city center in the middle of Kabul. The primary of target of the attacks was the Central Bank, though the Presidential Palace and the Ministry of Justice, both located in Pashtunistan Square, were in close proximity to the area under assault. In response to the attacks several hundred Afghan soldiers were deployed.
Filkins reports that the assault is the most recent operation in a series of incidents designed to instill a sense of panic among the citizens of Kabul. Filkins also comments that urban centers were targeted due to the concentration of U.S. troops in the rural countryside, and that this concentration as led to a recent upsurge in assaults concentrated in urban locals.
The assaults lasted approximately 5 hours, leaving a popular Afghan shopping area in ruins. Of the seven Taliban carrying out the attacks, 2 were suicide bombers, the remaining 5 were killed during the course of the following conflict. Spokesmen for the Taliban greatly exaggerated the number of militants carrying out the assault, reporting that approximately 20 suicide bombers had been dispersed to the city’s center and that some 40 plus government officials had been killed.
Taliban representatives stated that the attacks were in response to American and Afghan proposals to “reconcile and reintegrate Taliban fighters into mainstream society.” This proposal, an essential tenet of Obama’s plan for peace in Afghanistan, was meant to be revealed later this month at the International Conference on Afghanistan in London. The conference is designed to bring Afghan leaders and the international community together in order to discuss the strategies for democracy and development in Afghanistan. Policymakers will develop milestones for improving the Afghan government with followup conferences to take place Kabul designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the aforementioned milestones.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban, is quoted in response to the proposed policy as saying, “We are ready to fight, and we have the strength to fight, and nobody from the Taliban side is ready to make any kind of deal.”
Evan Hill in his post entitled, “Taliban Launches Raid in Kabul; Gov’t says 5 dead 38 wounded,” urges that the January 18th assault not hinder U.S. and Afghan plans to reintegrate members of the Taliban back into society. Hill comments, “It might be a slap in the face, but it doesn’t seem to me as if an assault by a few dozen fanatics undermines the entire effort to bring certain Taliban back into society.”
Posted in Afghanistan, Taliban, Terrorism | Comment »
Jordan: Islamists Challenge Government over Role in Afghanistan
January 14th, 2010 by Josh
Via the New York Times, Jordanian Islamists recently issued a statement titled, “It Is Not Our War,” in which they decry Jordanian participation in, and cooperation with, U.S. military operations in the Afghan theater. In addition to calling for the withdrawal of Jordanian forces from Afghanistan, they demanded “an end to the policy of what is called cooperation or security coordination with the Zionist enemy or the American intelligence agencies.” The Times noted that the deadly suicide attack on CIA operatives carried out by Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, a Jordanian doctor, spurred a round of heated internal debate as various segments of society found themselves caught between two national interests: Jordanian pride and American partnership. In fact, political analyst Hasan Abu Hanieh described a largely confused population who “[did] not even know that there are Jordanian forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan.” Zaki Saad, a former director of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing in Jordan, blamed the government for initiating policies that drove “radical young people into the arms of Al Qaeda.”
Posted in Afghanistan, Diplomacy, Islamist movements, Jordan, Military, Muslim Brotherhood, Terrorism | Comment »
Iraq: A Critical Year Ahead
December 22nd, 2009 by Jason
Kenneth Pollack warns that “while [Iraq] has made tremendous progress in both the security and political realms, all of those gains are fragile and could evaporate quickly if strained.” Pollack argues “the mistake we are in danger of making in Iraq is that as our military steps back, our civilians are not always stepping up.” If Iraqis begin to question our resolve, then ordinary Iraqis will have no choice but to support militias who might protect them in what they perceive as an impending civil war.
Fareed Zakaria also warns against forgetting the war in Iraq, contending that while the surge was a military success, Iraq has yet to resolve its fundamental political differences that preclude a stable future. Therefore, the Obama administration should maximize this opportunity to realize Iraq’s potential as an “extraordinary model for the Arab world.” While more pessimistic than Zakaria, Andrew Sullivan agrees this year will be “critical” in determining the ultimate success or failure of the war in Iraq.
John Hannah responds to the Iranian incursion into Iraqi territory. He argues that the incident proves that the Iraqi government is increasingly confident in protecting its sovereignty and Iraq has the potential to emerge as a “central pillar” in America’s struggle against violent Islamist extremism. Given the “flaccid U.S. response” to the incident, Hannah urges to “do far more to support our Iraqi friends.” While the incident has since died down, George Friedman argues Iran showed it might not wait for the U.S. to initiate a conflict. Now that Prime Minister Maliki has proven he is not an Iranian puppet but an Iraqi patriot, Hussain Abdul-Hussain argues the Gulf countries should “embrace a neighbor currently emerging from years of tyranny followed by civil strife.”
Finally, the AP reports a suicide bomber in northern Iraq has killed a city council chief, a member of the Turkmen minority affiliated with the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Elections, Freedom, Iraq, Kurds, Military, Oil, Political Parties, Sectarianism, Terrorism, US foreign policy | Comment »
Yemen: The Need for a Broader Perspective?
December 22nd, 2009 by Jason
Time Magazine explores the potential fallout from U.S. assistance in strikes and raids against Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen. The article quotes Gregory Johnsen who warns “you can’t just go kill a few individuals and the al-Qaeda problem will go away,” especially when such attacks result in civilian casualties. As Mohammad Quhtan of Yemen’s opposition Islamist al-Islah party explains, “Al-Qaeda will be able to recruit a lot more young people, at least from the tribes that were hit.”
Instead, Johnsen repeats his call for (see our previous post) a broader American foreign policy that will undermine Al-Qaeda. He points to a Reuters article that describes how, in addition to al-Qaeda, falling oil income, water shortages, humanitarian crises, the Houthi conflict, and a southern separatist movement all contribute to Yemen’s instability.
Posted in Middle Eastern Media, Military, Oil, Political Parties, Public Opinion, Terrorism, US foreign policy, Yemen, al-Qaeda | Comment »
