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

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.
Von Juliane von Mittelstaedt
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.

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.

Foto: A2800 epa The Yemeni Army/ dpa

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

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."

US Boots on the Ground in Yemen

An additional dispatch reads: "Since the outbreak of hostilities in 2004, the Yemeni government has used many different arguments, including the Houthis' alleged ties to Iran and Hezbollah, to attempt to convince the US government to declare the Houthis a Foreign Terrorist Organization."

The ambassador doesn't mince words in the dispatch. "It is the embassy's firm belief that if Yemen had any concrete evidence that the Houthis had connections to either Hezbollah or Iran, it would have produced it immediately; the lack of such evidence likely indicates that the Yemeni government lacks any real proof of such links." Tehran's influence, the dispatch reads, "is limited to informal religious ties between Yemeni and Iranian scholars and negligible Iranian investment in the energy and development sectors."

The lie about Iran is nevertheless useful to Saleh. It guarantees support for his anti-Houthi campaign from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, both of whom are opponents of Iranian hegemony.

The Saudis are aware that Saleh is being disingenuous, but they are pursuing their own objectives: a 10 kilometer (six mile) buffer zone that extends into Yemen territory. When Houthi rebels storm the border, the Saudis use this as a pretext to push into Yemen. President Saleh has nothing against the strategy; on the contrary, he is "thrilled" when the Saudi air force bombs Houthi positions. In return for Saleh's acquiescence, Saudi Arabia provides money and arms.

Following the Arms

In late 2009, in fact, Saudi Arabia announced it was providing Yemen with arms worth $62 million. Furthermore, the Saudis have offered to act as an intermediary for arms deals with the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Slovakia. "It is almost certain that a large amount of the weapons now on offer will find their way into Yemen's thriving grey arms market, or be re-exported, a traditional revenue stream for the Saleh government," reads a particularly pointed embassy dispatch. "From there, it is anyone's guess as to where the weapons will surface, potentially even in the hands of extremist groups bent on attacking Western interests in Yemen -- and ironically, Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries in the Gulf."

On the long term, the US is concerned that Saleh's lie could become a "self-fulfilling prophecy," and a regional war could erupt between Shiites and Sunnis, fueled by propaganda from the Yemeni president: "We can think of few ways to more effectively encourage Iranian meddling in the Houthi rebellion than to have all of Yemen's Sunni neighbors line up to finance and outfit Ali Abdullah Saleh's self-described "Operation Scorched Earth" against his country's Shia minority," reads one of the dispatches.

Next on the list of Saleh's favorite untruths is that "there are no American boots on Yemeni soil."

That, at least, is how Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Affairs Rashad al-Alimi likes to phrase it. The government is anxious to give the impression that its collaboration with the US is limited to training, technical support and information exchange.

Our Bombs, Not Yours

The US dispatches, however, make it clear that the US, at the invitation of Yemen, have begun to hunt down terrorists in the country and launch air strikes. US fighter jets, for instance, attacked suspected al-Qaida camps in Arhab and in the provinces of Abyan and Shabwa on Dec. 17 and 24, 2009.

Two weeks later, Petraeus met with Saleh: "We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours," said the Yemeni president, according to one of the dispatches. Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs Rashad al-Alimi then added that he "lied" to the parliament by saying that, while the bombs may have been manufactured in America, they had been used by the Yemeni government.

Saleh's administration has no interest in making public just how much leeway it gives the Americans within the country. It was only when Petraeus suggested positioning US personnel in al-Qaida areas, equipped with information provided by the drones, that the president sidestepped the proposal. "You cannot enter the operation area," Saleh said.

Then Saleh offered one of his typical compromises: US fighter jets and drones could remain on standby outside Yemeni territory -- and thus out of sight -- and attack as soon as al-Qaida targets were reported.

It is an ideal state of affairs for the US. Following criticism of the large numbers of civilian casualties sustained during an attack on Dec. 17 -- a total of 49 civilians, including 18 children, were reportedly killed -- it was noted that the Yemeni government had "weathered the storm of criticism," according to a dispatch. "While the US has escaped the brunt of criticism to date, continued leaks from Washington and international media coverage of American involvement could stir up anti-American resentment in Yemen and test the Yemeni government's professed commitment to going after AQAP."

Civilian Victims

Indeed, that is the third lie on the list: There are no civilian victims.

The Yemeni government does not spare civilians, neither when fighting the Houthis nor when conducting operations against al-Qaida. In the wake of the US attacks on an al-Qaida camp on Dec. 17 and 24 -- an operation that President Saleh explicitly praised -- an embassy official wrote in a dispatch that, "Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs Rashad al-Alimi told the ambassador that civilians killed in the air strikes were most likely poor Bedouin from the area providing logistical support to the terrorists and AQAP." Officially, however, the Yemenites deny that there were any civilian casualties, aside from relatives of the al-Qaida fighters.

Large numbers of civilians also died during Saudi air strikes against Houthi rebels in late 2009, apparently because the Yemenites, by all appearances, had purposely provided false target information.

The embassy documents provide details of a conversation between the US ambassador in Riyadh and the deputy defense minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Khalid bin Sultan. "The ambassador highlighted US concerns about providing Saudi Arabia with satellite imagery of the Yemen border area," reads one dispatch. Washington was worried about how the Saudis would use such information.

The ambassador cited Saudi air strikes against a clinic in Yemen. He showed the prince satellite images of bombed-out buildings. "This looks familiar," the prince said, according to the dispatch. "If we had the Predator (drones), maybe we would not have this problem."

"We tried very hard not to hit civilian targets," the prince assured the ambassador. The document reads further: "The Saudis had 130 deaths and the Yemenis lost as many as one thousand. 'Obviously,' Prince Khaled observed, 'some civilians died, though we wish that this did not happen.'"

Whiskey, Not Drugs

According to the Saudis, the attack on the clinic was conducted "based on information received from Yemen that it was being used as an operational base by the Houthis." There were numerous other cases of erroneous target data. In the end, though, the US handed over the satellite images of the border region to the Saudis -- although it knew that these could be used to launch air strikes against Houthi positions.

Given Saleh's brazen lies, why does the US continue to support him? One document provides the answer. "The United States sees no real alternative to supporting Saleh," it reads. As such, the Yemeni president is free to continue playing on the fears of terrorism among his Arab neighbors and the US. He accuses his American allies of being "'hot-blooded and hasty when you need us' but 'cold-blooded and British when we need you.'"

Saleh accuses the US of producing "only words, but no solutions," and by solutions the president means armored vehicles, weapons, fighter jets, and helicopter gunships to be used in operations against Houthis.

Should his demands be rejected, he rants and raves -- as the ambassador noted following a conversation with Saleh -- and accuses the Americans of wanting to keep al-Qaida in the country to justify their presence in the region. "I gave you a green light," Sadeh said according to a dispatch from the US Embassy in Sanaa. "We have given you air, sea and land access, and still you don't want to hit them." Alternately, he threatened to start negotiating with members of al-Qaida.

Afterwards, the dispatch noted that Saleh was once again in "vintage" form: "at times disdainful and dismissive and at others, conciliatory and congenial."

The president even has a sense of humor. Indeed, after four containers from Djibouti filled with explosives -- possibly destined for the rebels -- arrived in Yemen, Saleh ordered the Americans: "Tell (Djiboutian President) Ismail Guelleh that I don't care if he smuggles whiskey into Yemen -- provided it's good whiskey -- but not drugs or weapons."

Icon: Der Spiegel
Translated from the German by Paul Cohen
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