By Thalif Deen
"UNITED NATIONS, Dec 30 (IPS) - When Yemen refused to vote in support of a U.S.-sponsored Security Council resolution against Iraq during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, a visibly angry U.S. delegate turned to the Yemeni diplomat and said: "That will be the last time you will ever vote against a U.S. resolution."
Washington's subsequent retaliation, in the aftermath of that negative vote, was predictable. The United States not only downgraded its relationship with Yemen but also cut off all military aid to a country once heavily armed with Soviet weapons.
But since that much-talked-about confrontation in the Security Council chamber, there has been a dramatic turnaround in the fluctuating love-hate relationship between the two countries........
William D. Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New York-based New America Foundation, cites press reports to suggest that Washington will rapidly ramp up U.S. military aid to Yemen over the next 18 months. The projected total, he said, is about 70 million dollars, or roughly the amount provided during the entire administration of former President George W. Bush.[Now that is" Change We Can Believe In!"]......
Hartung said the Obama administration "is essentially initiating a low-level war in Yemen with little or no public discussion about its potential consequences"."
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