A VERY GOOD PIECE
By Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
"Protesters are being killed, a dictator refuses to step down, al-Qaeda is thriving, the CIA is on the ground, and civil war looms. Welcome to the curious case of Yemen, undeserving of Libyan-style humanitarian imperialism, yet where President Ali Abdullah Saleh has just been dropped from Washington's roster of "our bastards" as Barack Obama launches a US$1 billion re-election bid.....
Our cunning bastard Yemen festers with George W Bush-era special forces-led counter-terrorism - widely expanded under Obama. Saleh is the local contractor. The target is bogeyman al-Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula (AQAP), which is hit by frequent bursts of "kinetic military action" (in White House speak). "Collateral damage" may have reached the low hundreds.....
Saleh has been very clever into instrumentalizing AQAP against his domestic enemies, while using the AQAP threat to extort weapons, intelligence and hundreds of million of dollars from the Americans. It worked, up to now. Obama ramped up "military assistance" for Yemen from $67 million in 2009 to $150 million in 2010. WikiLeaks widely exposed dirty deals between Washington and Saleh - including General David Petraeus lying to Yemenis about who was killing Yemeni civilians during the "war on terror". But unlike demonized terrorist/rehab/thug Gaddafi, Saleh is one of "our bastards". He's cunning enough to smash Zeydis, southern Yemenis, journalists and peaceful student protesters instead of smashing his golden egg, AQAP.....
For its part, the House of Saud has been fighting tooth and nail for Saleh to stay; he is as much a House of Saud lackey as the al-Khalifas in Bahrain. But without support from the Obama administration, the best the House of Saud can hope for is the usual "stability" and "smooth transition of power" - as in yet one more Saudi Arabia-friendly General. Saudi Arabia wants a "smooth" military coup. They would not be exactly displeased with hard line commander Major General Ali Mohsin Saleh Ahmar as the new leader.....
The vicious 2011 Arab counter-revolution keeps working its mysterious ways. Turkey and the BRIC countries are perplexed that the US is now arming the AQIM-infested "rebels" - and may be showering them with juicy bits of the $32 billion in frozen Libyan government assets, plus a share in upcoming oil sales. Talk about a hot Club Med. Under the Bush administration, al-Qaeda was used as the perfect excuse for bombing and pre-emptive wars. Now, under Obama, al-Qaeda - as in AQIM and AQAP - is being used in the balkanization of selected nations, facilitating the breakdown along tribal, sectarian and criminal lines. The ghost of Osama bin Laden continues to pull a Cheshire cat. The al-Qaeda franchise is booming like never before. It may even be back in the game in its original status - as a CIA guerrilla army. There's no war like an endless war."
Asia Times
"Protesters are being killed, a dictator refuses to step down, al-Qaeda is thriving, the CIA is on the ground, and civil war looms. Welcome to the curious case of Yemen, undeserving of Libyan-style humanitarian imperialism, yet where President Ali Abdullah Saleh has just been dropped from Washington's roster of "our bastards" as Barack Obama launches a US$1 billion re-election bid.....
Our cunning bastard Yemen festers with George W Bush-era special forces-led counter-terrorism - widely expanded under Obama. Saleh is the local contractor. The target is bogeyman al-Qaeda in the Arabic Peninsula (AQAP), which is hit by frequent bursts of "kinetic military action" (in White House speak). "Collateral damage" may have reached the low hundreds.....
Saleh has been very clever into instrumentalizing AQAP against his domestic enemies, while using the AQAP threat to extort weapons, intelligence and hundreds of million of dollars from the Americans. It worked, up to now. Obama ramped up "military assistance" for Yemen from $67 million in 2009 to $150 million in 2010. WikiLeaks widely exposed dirty deals between Washington and Saleh - including General David Petraeus lying to Yemenis about who was killing Yemeni civilians during the "war on terror". But unlike demonized terrorist/rehab/thug Gaddafi, Saleh is one of "our bastards". He's cunning enough to smash Zeydis, southern Yemenis, journalists and peaceful student protesters instead of smashing his golden egg, AQAP.....
For its part, the House of Saud has been fighting tooth and nail for Saleh to stay; he is as much a House of Saud lackey as the al-Khalifas in Bahrain. But without support from the Obama administration, the best the House of Saud can hope for is the usual "stability" and "smooth transition of power" - as in yet one more Saudi Arabia-friendly General. Saudi Arabia wants a "smooth" military coup. They would not be exactly displeased with hard line commander Major General Ali Mohsin Saleh Ahmar as the new leader.....
The vicious 2011 Arab counter-revolution keeps working its mysterious ways. Turkey and the BRIC countries are perplexed that the US is now arming the AQIM-infested "rebels" - and may be showering them with juicy bits of the $32 billion in frozen Libyan government assets, plus a share in upcoming oil sales. Talk about a hot Club Med. Under the Bush administration, al-Qaeda was used as the perfect excuse for bombing and pre-emptive wars. Now, under Obama, al-Qaeda - as in AQIM and AQAP - is being used in the balkanization of selected nations, facilitating the breakdown along tribal, sectarian and criminal lines. The ghost of Osama bin Laden continues to pull a Cheshire cat. The al-Qaeda franchise is booming like never before. It may even be back in the game in its original status - as a CIA guerrilla army. There's no war like an endless war."
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