'Orchard of Fighters' Grows out of Poverty and Mistrust in Yemen

[StarfarerBill]

By James Hider in Sanaa

A new and more extreme generation of al-Qaeda has arisen in Yemen in the past three years, overstepping the traditional constraints that allowed for an uneasy truce with the Yemeni Government, on which it has declared all-out war, experts warned yesterday.

They said that a military approach to tackling the crisis would only exacerbate the problem, radicalising tribes who were already sympathetic to the Islamists while failing to address key civil grievances such as massive underdevelopment, poverty and unequal distribution of key resources, in particular oil.

“A Western intervention, in particular a US intervention, will provoke a backlash” among normal Yemenis, a conservative and poorly educated population distrustful of what they considered to be an aggressive West, Saeed al-Jemhi, the author of AlQaeda in Yemen, said. “This can only work in al-Qaeda’s favour.”

Another analyst, who asked not to be named, said: “It’s like a wasp’s nest if you hit it with a stick.”

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/01/04-6

[napi21]

1. When I heard that leader from northern Yemin on an interview,

and he said they are fighing against the US because all they want is our oil, I answered YES. I haven't heard anyone say the US was after their oil, but they kept saying they werent after oil in Iraq and look what happened there!

[thunder rising]

2. What can't solve a problem with bombs ... WTF?