'Operation Scorched Earth': A US Hand in Yemen's Civil War

English Site
>World
>WikiLeaks Diplomatic Cables
>
'Operation Scorched Earth': A US Hand in Yemen's Civil War

'Operation Scorched Earth': A US Hand in Yemen's Civil War

By Juliane von Mittelstaedt

Yemen is becoming an important refuge for al-Qaida terrorists, but authorities in the country are more interested in pursuing its war against Shiite rebels in the north. American weapons are used in the fight -- and the US secretly pursues terrorists on their own.

Yemeni soldiers take up a position against Houthi rebels in 2009 in this picture provided by the Yemeni army. US dispatches make it clear that the fight could not continue without US support.

dpa

Yemeni soldiers take up a position against Houthi rebels in 2009 in this picture provided by the Yemeni army. US dispatches make it clear that the fight could not continue without US support.

His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh, the first and so far only president of the Republic of Yemen, ruler over 23 million inhabitants and 50 million firearms, is not a good man to have as an enemy -- but having him as a friend is even worse. In Yemen he is called "The Boss."

Since 2004, the boss has been fighting a ruthless war against the Houthi rebels in the north. They are Shiites -- and politically marginalized. In August 2009, this conflict entered a new phase when the Yemeni army launched a new offensive designed to wipe out all Houthi resistance. The president categorically rejects negotiations with the rebels: "The war will never stop no matter how much money or martyrs it costs," he said a year ago.

Saleh appears indifferent to the ravages of the war, the civilian casualties, the streams of refugees and the devastating damage to the region's infrastructure. He is pouring an increasing number of weapons into the battle against the Houthi stronghold of Sadah, and sending in an increasing number of soldiers into his deadlocked conflict with the rebels. He is also paying less and less attention to the fight against the terror group known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

"We are fighting on behalf of you, the Americans, and Israel," he said in a conversation with the US ambassador, according to one of the tens of thousands of US diplomatic dispatches that have now been made public by WikiLeaks. Saleh maintains that the war against the Houthis is actually a proxy war between Iran and the US. The Americans, however, feel that the Yemeni president is fighting a senseless war, a viewpoint that is made crystal clear by hundreds of reports that the US Embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa has sent to Washington over the past few years. Nevertheless, the Americans play a role in the war. The internal embassy documents show that Saleh has mis-appropriated the American anti-terror aid for his own purposes -- a situation which has made it necessary for the US military to secretly hunt down al-Qaida terrorists on their own.

Dares Not Enter His Office

Yemen is a country in freefall, on the way to becoming a second Afghanistan or Somalia -- an alarming situation given its close proximity to the world's largest oil reserves.

It was from Yemen that terrorists airmailed two parcel bombs addressed to targets in the US. The packages were intercepted in late October in Dubai and the UK. Evidence indicates that al-Qaida was behind the plot. Yemen was also where the "underwear bomber" was outfitted with plastic explosives intended to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight in December 2009. Al-Qaida leaders are moving their operations from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen: Nasir al-Wuhayshi, for example, Osama bin Laden's private secretary and confidant. In the province of Abyan, where the jihadist Tariq al-Fadhli calls the shots, not even the provincial governor dares enter his own office.

ORIGINAL: The Key Yemen Cables

Click on the headline below to read the full text...

Sept. 12, 2009, Sanaa: "iran in yemen: tehran's shadow looms large..."

Dec. 17, 2009, Sanaa: "yemen's counter terrorism unit stretched thin..."

Dec. 28, 2009, Sanaa: "yemeni tribal leader: for saleh, saudi involvement..."

The country is difficult to control due to its many clans and rugged mountainous regions. The US has sought to increase the anti-terror capabilities of the Yemeni army by providing significant aid and training. But a large amount of the materiel provided by the Americans has actually been deployed for the war in Sadah -- as have some of the units trained by US specialists. Indeed, the dispatches make it clear that the campaign is one which likely could not be maintained without US support.

Washington is aware of the problem, yet tacitly accepts it. "A concerted US anti-terrorism campaign in Yemen will free Saleh to continue to devote his limited security assets to the ongoing war against Houthi rebels in Saada," reads one of the dispatches. "The net effect, and one we strongly suspect Saleh has calculated, of both the American and Yemeni 'iron fist' unleashed at the same time in Yemen will be a clear message to the southern movement or any other party interested in generating political unrest in the country that a similar fate awaits them."

'Extra Muscle' in the Fight against the Houthis

US Special Forces and British army instructors are in the country and training the Yemenites to combat terror. The US has spent a total of $160 million on this effort since 2002 -- but in December 2009, it became clear that two of the four specially trained anti-terror units were fighting in the war against the Houthis. They had originally been dispatched to Sadah in July specifically to find nine hostages, including a number of Germans. "The Yemeni government has attempted to use its elite counter-terrorism forces to provide needed extra muscle," reads one of the embassy dispatches.

The US is displeased -- less because of the civil war than because of the fact that their special forces have been misappropriated and can no longer be used for their intended mission against AQAP.

The same is true of military hardware provided by the US. A high-ranking Yemeni officer leaked to the US diplomat something that President Saleh has denied: that American military equipment -- contrary to official US government policy -- is also being used against the Houthis. The officer urged the Americans to train the anti-terror units in the future in "unconventional warfare" as they did in Afghanistan, "suggesting the counter-terrorism unit expects to continue to use its forces in Saada," the embassy dispatch commented. "While US concerns over diversion of troops and equipment have been acknowledged, they have clearly not resulted in a significant change of Yemeni government focus from the Houthis to AQAP."

Washington has known at least since late December 2009 that President Saleh was deploying American weapons and US-trained troops against the rebels. Nevertheless, the US has recently extended its collaboration with him. At a meeting in January of this year, US General David Petraeus promised the president $150 million for 2010 alone.

'I Promise'

America is also helping Yemen to acquire helicopter gunships. "The US could convince Saudi Arabia and the UAE to supply six helicopters each if the American 'bureaucracy' prevented quick approval, Saleh suggested," according to a US Embassy report on a meeting between Saleh and Petraeus in January of this year. "The general responded that he had already considered Yemen's request for helicopters and was in discussions with Saudi Arabia on the matter." Saleh then assured his American guest: "'We won't use the helicopters in Saada, I promise. Only against al-Qaida.'" Hardly any leader lies as brazenly as the president of Yemen. He lies to the people, the parliament and his allies.

At the top of his list of favorite lies: The Houthis are a new Hezbollah.

He has a range of proof, including a video in which Houthis chant "death to America, death to Israel." There is also a DVD that President Saleh personally presented to General Petraeus in the summer of 2009: It allegedly shows Houthi rebels in Hezbollah uniforms -- but oddly enough the deputy director of the Yemeni intelligence agency NSB has no knowledge of the video, according to the US dispatches. Later that same year, Republican US Senator John McCain, while on a visit to the country, was informed that the intelligence agency had eliminated two Iranian networks in Yemen. Shortly thereafter, Yemeni media reported that six warehouses had been discovered with Iranian machine guns, short-range missiles and ammunition. Proof, though, was not forthcoming. It was classified as top secret, the Yemenis said. Alternately, they claimed it was being used as evidence in a trial.

"Most recently, the Yemeni government has failed to substantiate its extravagant, public claims that an Iranian ship seized in the Red Sea off its coast on Oct. 25 was carrying Iranian military trainers, weapons and explosives destined for the Houthis," reads one dispatch. "In fact, sensitive reporting suggests that the ship was carrying no weapons at all."

Part 1: A US Hand in Yemen's Civil War
Part 2: US Boots on the Ground in Yemen

Article...

For reasons of data protection and privacy, your IP address will only be stored if you are a registered user of Facebook and you are currently logged in to the service. For more detailed information, please click on the "i" symbol.