The US Embassy in San'a', the capitol of Yemen was attacked today leading to 16 dead at 9:15 this morning. A group of men wearing Yemeni army uniforms armed with automatic weapons and RPG's attacked the compound. The attack created an opening for suicide bombers in a car to break through the security checkpoints and detonate inside the compound killing 16 and injuring many more.
The group blamed by Yemen, Islamic Jihad (not affiliated with the Palestinian terrorist organization of the same name)supposedly claimed blame for the attack, but in the past Yemeni officials have blamed Islamic Jihad when the attack was in fact linked to al-Qiada. American officials highly suspect that the attack was perpetrated by al-Qiada.
American officials are increasing angered over Yemen's lack of cooperation with US terrorist searches. Yemen is officially one of the America's "war on terror" allies, but has not been very helpful. The mastermind behind the 2000 U.S.S. Cole attack was sentenced to death by US prosecutors, but Yemeni authorities shortened the sentence to 15 years in prison, and he escaped in a 2004 prison break.
I'm glad that we still have allies in the Middle East helping us in our "war on terror" but an embassy attack is always bad news. I believe that US should push Yemen to step up its pursuit and conviction of terrorist groups operating inside Yemen, and am dissapointed at Yemen's lax nature toward terrorists
3 comments:
I'm still confused, why we are looking for terrorists in other countries... when we have so many problems HERE. what gives our government the right to do whatever they want anywhere they want? It makes me think of the search warrant issue, you can't search someone without a warrant... but..
I think that Yemen's commitment to ally with the US against the "war on terror" is more idealistic than any else. While Yemen may have good intentions in hoping to combat terrorism, it does not have the fortitude to make this a reality. With such issues as poverty, a young population with little education and discontented citizens, Yemen should be more focused on changing its ways—preparing its youth for a positive future—rather than combating terrorism. But this seems impossible with Yemen receiving an influx of terrorists escaping the strength and success of Saudi Arabia's offensive against them there. With the amount of problems in Yemen itself, I think the US would be wise to be wary of Yemen, not to be too trustful of a nation with so many clever terrorists floating around—less some information ends up in the wrong hands.
Of course America suspects Al Queda for the attacks...do they ever suspect anyone else? I don't think so! I think America wants to accuse Al Queda for something so badly that that all it ever sees is Al Queda.
Anyways, I definately agree with rbuetens...what are we doing searching for terrorists in Yemen (wasting billions in the process) when we have so many problems at home? How are we going to stop the economic crisis, plummeting housing costs, and poor education funds if we squander everything on terrorist-search programs? Sure, Yemen should help us in our "war on terror" since it signed a contract, but then again, the contract was pretty dumb to begin with. I don't blame them for not being as proactive for a cause that has been less than fruitful.
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