In a stunning turn of intelligence panache, President Obama’s leading Counter-terrorism advisor has warned that al-Qaeda is planning an attack in the Yemeni capital Sanaa – most likely on the US embassy.
Amazing.
Not ten days after a lapse in national security allowed a man strapped with explosives to get on a plane bound for the US without a passport, US intelligence has suddenly sprung to life, pulled out the crystal ball they keep locked in the basement at Langley, and conveniently come to the conclusion that attacks are imminent in the very same country where a 23-year-old Kenyan engineering student allegedly got his training – which obviously wasn’t that good being that he didn’t succeed.
But wait, there’s more.
General David Petraeus has already met with Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh to assure him that the United States will support his government’s efforts against ‘al-Qaeda’ in Yemen – not to mention the little problem he’s having with the Houthis, a Shia insurgency, in the north.
As mentioned a few days ago, the United States has poured some $70 million dollars into aiding Yemeni counter-insurgency operations, including training and support. Of course, the line share of that went towards funding the Yemeni offensive against the Houthis in Saada province which has been going on since last summer – which is a very important distinction being that the Houthis are Zaydi Shia, not Sunnis, making the likelihood that they’re in business with al-Qaeda as probable as a snowball vacationing in the Bahamas.
But all you need do is read the bold type – US supports Yemeni fight against terrorism. The fine print’s far too distracting, especially the part where you delve into the authoritarian reality of the Yemeni government, the fact that they seize and hold whomever they want without issue, are guilty of employing torture, and so on. You know, just the sort of government that a nation such as the United States routinely claims they are against – unless, of course, they can be us to their advantage. In that case – game on.