DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

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de sti tu ti on, which wo uld le ad to the eme rge nce of an
enti re army of the une mplo yed. The co untry’s wa ter
ta ble is ne arly de ple ted from ye ars of agri cu ltu ral ma -
lpra cti ce, and its oil re se rves are ra pi dly dwi ndli ng. 3
No bo dy pa id any atte nti on to co untless so ci al pro ble -
ms ei ther, sta rti ng wi th the almo st unli mi ted co nsu -
mpti on of the drug “ka ad“, which is not pro hi bi ted by
the law, to one of the wo rst re co rds of hu man ri ghts
abu ses wo rld wi de, as sho wn by any of se ve ral U.S.
Sta te De pa rtme nt re po rts from pre vi ous ye ars. 4
As so ma ny ti mes be fo re, all the se accu mu la ted pro -
ble ms fa iled to attra ct the wo rld’s atte nti on until they
spi lled over and di re ctly thre ate ned a We ste rn co -
untry. That ha ppe ned when, this Chri stmas, a yo ung
Ni ge ri an tri ed to de to na te a bo mb hi dden in his unde -
rwe ar on a fli ght en ro ute from Amste rdam to De tro -
it. The man, Umar Fa ro uk Abdu lmu tta lib, a stu de nt
from Lo ndon who had for so me ti me be en su spe cted
of co nne cti ons to te rro ri sts, was li nked by inte lli ge nce
se rvi ces to the bra nch of Al Qa eda ope ra ti ng in Ye -
men. 5 He admi tted to ha vi ng be en tra ined in Ye men,
in one of nu me ro us ca mps in the pro vi nce of Sha bwa.
Only then did Ye men re ach the fro nt pa ges of the wo -
rld’s me dia, but aga in only in the co nte xt of fi ghti ng
Al Qa eda and the thre at it re pre se nts. Aga in, as so ma -
ny ti mes be fo re, no bo dy was inte re sted in the ca uses
and the re al co nte xt of the pro blem.
* * *
Ame ri can ri ght-wi ng po li ti ci ans sta rted lo bbyi ng for ano
ther inte rve nti on, si mi lar to tho se in Afgha ni stan and
Iraq, but the Oba ma admi ni stra ti on, at le ast in this pha -
se, sho wed it had le arnt so me thi ng from the adve ntu -
ri sm of Bu sh’s neo-co nse rva ti ves. All the expe rts on
Oba ma ’s tem (unli ke the 69% of co rre spo nde nts inte -
rvi ewed by Fox Ne ws, who opted for mi li ta ry invo lve -
me nt) 6 advi sed him that a di re ct Ame ri can
inte rve nti on in Ye men aga inst Al Qa eda wo uld only
we aken Ame ri ca ’s po si ti on and open ano ther fro nt in
which Al Qa eda wo uld ga in mo re sympa thi ze rs than
Ame ri can tro ops wo uld, pro ba bly wi th gre at lo sses,
ma na ge to „eli mi na te“.
It se ems that Wa shi ngton is awa re of the fa ct than an
open Ame ri can inte rve nti on in Ye men co uld ea si ly be -
co me a gi ft for Al Qa eda and its bra nches. Even now
Al Qa eda ’s pro pa ga ndi sts are bu sy wi th po inti ng to
the ci vil vi cti ms of the air ra ids in De ce mber. In ca se
of a di re ct inte rve nti on, they wo uld de ve lop a ve ry cle -
ar di sco urse on „a far ene my“ who has tu rned aga -
inst Islam in fi ghti ng yet ano ther Mu slim sta te. 7
This mi ght be why US pre si de nt Ba ra ck Oba ma and
the Bri ti sh Pri me Mi ni ster Go rdon Bro wn ha ve de ci -
ded to su ppo rt the fi ght aga inst Al Qa eda in Ye men
only fi na nci ally, thro ugh co nsu lti ng and armi ng, but wi -
tho ut di re ct invo lve me nt. The two are jo intly fi na nci -
ng an anti-te rro ri st unit wi thin Ye me ni fo rces, wi th
Oba ma aski ng Co ngress to ea rma rk $63 mi lli on for
Ye men in 2010. 8
Ho we ver, the bi gge st po rti on of he lp and a si gni fi ca nt
po rti on of the jo int ope ra ti ons of Ame ri can and Ye -
me ni se cu ri ty fo rces, espe ci ally tho se de ali ng wi th inte -
lli ge nce, are hi dden from the pu blic. Acco rdi ng to Fox
Ne ws, Ame ri ca ns even ha ve tro ops on Ye me ni so il,
and spe ci al uni ts, inte lli ge nce orga ni za ti ons and unma -
nned ai rcra fts ha ve, for so me ti me, be en wa gi ng a war
aga inst Al Qa eda far from the pu blic eye, wi th the appro
val of the go ve rnme nt in Sa na. 9
The pre se nt Ame ri can admi ni stra ti on has pu bli cly
opted for stro ng fi na nci al, mi li ta ry and expe rt he lp to
the re gi me of Ye me ni pre si de nt Ali Abdu llah Sa leh in
order not to addi ti ona lly irri ta te the stro ngly anti-Ame -
ri can Ye me ni pu blic. Altho ugh pre se ntly not su ppo rti -
ng Al Qa eda, if fo rced to cho ose be twe en Ame ri ca
and Al Qa eda, the Ye me ni pe ople wo uld li ke ly pi ck Al
Qa eda, as in a lot of other Arab na ti ons. It se ems that
this esti ma te is sha red by nu me ro us US and inte rna ti -
onal ana lysts, such as Ste ve na Erla nge ra from the New
Yo rk Ti mes, who co nclu ded that „for the su ccess of fi -
ght aga inst te rror in Ye men, it is of key impo rta nce to
stri ke a ba la nce be twe en co nse rva ti ve Islam and an incre
ased Ame ri can invo lve me nt“ 10
In order to be a step ahe ad, 150 Isla mic scho la rs (ali -
ms and she iks) si gned a fe tva which pre scri bes that, in
ca se Ame ri can tro ops inte rve ne in Ye men, Ji had wo -
uld be the obli ga ti on of eve ry Mu slim. 11 The ini ti ator
and fi rst si gna to ry of this fe tva was She ik Abdul-Ma je -
ed al-Zi nda ni, who sa id he did not wa nt to see „the
re tu rn of co lo ni ali sm in Ye men“ under the fa lse pre te -
nses of a fi ght aga inst Al Qa eda.
What ma de ma ny other ali ms and inte lle ctu als, bo th
in Ye men and in the ne ighbo ri ng Sa udi Ara bia and the
Mu slim wo rld, de no unce this fe tva was a pa rt in which
it co nde mns atta cks aga inst me mbe rs of Al Qa eda for
whom „the re is no va lid Sha ria ju dgme nt“ and who,
acco rdi ng to the fe tva au tho rs „mu st not be ki lled be -
fo re ta ken to a le gi ti ma te co urt“. 12 Mo st cri ti cs ha ve
inte rpre ted this as su ppo rt to Al Qa eda, be ca use it do -
es not co nde mn atta cks aga inst ci vi li ans, but only the
atta cks exe cu ted wi th Ame ri can unma nned ai rcra fts