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KoKo

(84,711 posts)
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 04:13 PM Apr 2015

Yemen: Running Updates Thread: Houthi fighters backed by tanks reach central Aden--

Last edited Fri Apr 3, 2015, 01:33 PM - Edit history (1)

World | Wed Apr 1, 2015 3:55pm EDT

Yemen Houthi fighters backed by tanks reach central Aden
ADEN | By Mohammed Mukhashaf

(Reuters) - A unit of Houthi rebels and allies backed by tanks pushed into central Aden, the main foothold of fighters loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, witnesses said on Wednesday, despite a week of air strikes by Saudi-led coalition forces.

The alliance of mainly Sunni Gulf Arab states has also attacked the northern Shi'ite Houthis from the sea but their advance toward the southern port city has been relentless.

Hadi's aides expressed alarm.

"What's happening now would be a disaster for Aden and its people, if Aden falls" Reyad Yassin Abdulla told Al Jazeera television.

The Houthi movement was jubilant.

"We can say that after a week of bombing on Yemen the aggressors have not achieved any result ... The victories in Aden today embarrass this campaign and silenced the aggressor states," Houthi spokesman Mohammad Abdulsalam told the militia's al-Maseera television.

Asked for his reaction, a Saudi military spokesman said Houthi forces had been in Aden before the alliance began its campaign on March 26 and had fought daily battles against the people of the city. Tanks appearing there had always been a possibility, he said without elaborating.

The Houthis, with vital support from army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, emerged as the dominant force in Yemen after they took over the capital six months ago and they now control much of the Arabian Peninsula country.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/01/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN0MS4Y120150401

34 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Yemen: Running Updates Thread: Houthi fighters backed by tanks reach central Aden-- (Original Post) KoKo Apr 2015 OP
Houthis say Saudi Arabia trying to split them from ex-president bemildred Apr 2015 #1
Large Map...to keep the area in perspective.. KoKo Apr 2015 #4
Photos of Protests in favor of Houthis... KoKo Apr 2015 #2
Yemen as Vietnam or Afghanistan bemildred Apr 2015 #3
What an interesting read! KoKo Apr 2015 #5
Yes. bemildred Apr 2015 #6
Yes...agree KoKo Apr 2015 #22
Saudi-led airstrikes fail to stop Yemeni rebels' advance in Aden bemildred Apr 2015 #7
Saudi border guard killed by gunfire from Yemen – SPA agency bemildred Apr 2015 #8
Saudi soldier killed, 10 wounded by gunfire from Yemen bemildred Apr 2015 #13
Reports: Saudi Arabia Opens Border Fences with Yemen bemildred Apr 2015 #9
Has the Saudi/Egyptian ground war in Yemen begun? bemildred Apr 2015 #10
44 killed in fighting in Yemen's Aden: medics, army bemildred Apr 2015 #11
Yemen's Shiite rebels capture presidential palace in Aden bemildred Apr 2015 #12
. nt bemildred Apr 2015 #14
Yemen's shock and awe bemildred Apr 2015 #15
Saudi-led coalition in Yemen fights off Houthi advance bemildred Apr 2015 #16
Yemen’s war reflects a new regional era bemildred Apr 2015 #17
Wicked sandstorm whips through the Arabian Peninsula bemildred Apr 2015 #18
Incredible...and good to see the maps and photos... KoKo Apr 2015 #21
Fisk: Yemen crisis: What will Saudi Arabia do when – not if – things go wrong in their war ... bemildred Apr 2015 #19
+1 KoKo Apr 2015 #20
Thumbs up for Robert Fisk Dems to Win Apr 2015 #27
Yah, I was glad to run into it. nt bemildred Apr 2015 #28
Saudi prestige suffers a blow in Yemen fight bemildred Apr 2015 #23
Yemen leader's Hadi loyalists Gain Ground in Aden--Arab Coalition Spokesman/03-April-2015 KoKo Apr 2015 #24
+1. bemildred Apr 2015 #25
Al Qaeda takes over Mukalla army base in Yemen bemildred Apr 2015 #26
I wonder who al Qaeda will align itself with? KoKo Apr 2015 #29
They are fighting them both at the moment. bemildred Apr 2015 #30
Yes, the article mentioned al Qaeda flying the "black flags" which was new to me... KoKo Apr 2015 #31
Well to be honest I don't expect much. bemildred Apr 2015 #32
Yemen burns as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula watches with glee bemildred Apr 2015 #33
The Pentagon Plan to ‘Divide and Rule’ the Muslim World--(history sourcing, overview) KoKo Apr 2015 #34

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
1. Houthis say Saudi Arabia trying to split them from ex-president
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 04:25 PM
Apr 2015

---

"They supported Ali Saleh for 35 years - for now he's rejected fighting us. But he's not doing it out of love for us, but fear," Bukhaiti told Reuters by telephone from Sanaa.

---

"Now he's in a critical position," Bukhaiti said. "They're asking him to fight us and to work against us, but if he makes any move against us, he'll end," he said. The Houthis have already fought other top military and tribal figures and forced those leaders to flee into exile.

---

"We expect there to be a ground invasion of Yemen, especially after the collaborators with the coalition fell in so many of their positions. They can't secure Hadi's legitimacy except by putting their foot down," Bukhaiti said.

---

"If there were sincere intentions among all the political forces, we would be able to come to an agreement to appoint a consensus president and a power-sharing government," Bukhaiti said.

"Hadi's presence as a side in the dialogue is rejected, because he is an item in the talks now, not a side. Some sides are calling for his return, but we reject this."

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/04/01/yemen-security-houthi-idINKBN0MS4OK20150401?rpc=401

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
4. Large Map...to keep the area in perspective..
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 05:32 PM
Apr 2015

Large Map....not showing the Yemen Specific Conflict ....but, how it fits into surrounding area. Just putting it here to refer back to. I had a great map of the Yemen Conflict areas, but, misplaced it. It will probably show up somewhere again in an article.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
3. Yemen as Vietnam or Afghanistan
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 05:07 PM
Apr 2015

By William R. Polk

As the events unfold with the Saudi and Egyptian engagement in Yemen, I was reminded of my discussion with Egypt’s President Gamal Abdel Nasser on “his” Yemen war, sometimes called the North Yemen Civil War that began in 1962, became a stalemate and finally ended in 1970. As Mark Twain may have said, “history doesn’t repeat but sometimes it rhymes.” The rhymes, at least, seem unmistakable.

In the course of our first lengthy talk on Yemen, Nasser (rather angrily) replied to one of my comments, “you don’t think I will win the war, do you?”

“No, Mr. President,” I replied, “I don’t.”

“Well, you would be surprised to know that I have acquired your [America’s] secret analyses of guerrilla warfare.”

https://consortiumnews.com/2015/04/01/yemen-as-vietnam-or-afghanistan/

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
5. What an interesting read!
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 08:22 PM
Apr 2015

They don't make them like that, anymore. Good to know he's still alive and able to write his views and remembrances of that time and putting it into a perspective that he cautions might happen with Saudi/Egyptian intervention in Yemen. He doesn't mention what's going to happen with the U.S. given our multiple involvements in MENA. Maybe he will write about that in the future.

Thanks for article.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
6. Yes.
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 08:40 AM
Apr 2015

He is from the same generation of FP people as Kennan, the pre-CIA, pre-National Security State, pre-WWII people.

And they were not the ignorant and self-important blowhards that populate our leadership now.

They still were not nice people, very racist for example, but they were serious people, they knew it's not about the money. The would give their enemies their due, when necessary, rather than panicing over how it looks and attempting to force their will when they don't have the means. The current, crop, fuckwits like the Neocon cabal, have no idea what they can get away with and what they can't, as we can see. And they are cowards.

Did you get that Nasser had him bombed, and he offered him the chance to get to talk to the rebels?

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
22. Yes...agree
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 07:41 PM
Apr 2015

about the "pre-people"...

And, yes, I did get it. Imagine Nuland, Powell or Rice attempting what Polk did. I can't even imagine John Kerry in that situation.


"Did you get that Nasser had him bombed, and he offered him the chance to get to talk to the rebels?"

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
7. Saudi-led airstrikes fail to stop Yemeni rebels' advance in Aden
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:28 AM
Apr 2015

Sana'a (dpa) - Yemen's Houthi rebels made advances Thursday in the strategic southern city of Aden, just hours after they were forced into a retreat by airstrikes from a Saudi-led coalition, local residents said.

The Houthis, widely understood to be backed by Shiite Iran, pushed deeper into Aden's central districts of Khor Maksr and Crater, defying the coalition bombing, according to the residents.

"The Houthi snipers are deployed on tops of buildings in Khor Maksr where they target anybody moving around in the area," a resident told dpa by phone. "Dozens have been killed and wounded."

There were no immediate comment from the Houthis.

http://www.dpa-international.com/news/international/saudi-led-airstrikes-fail-to-stop-yemeni-rebels-advance-in-aden-a-44690436.html

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
8. Saudi border guard killed by gunfire from Yemen – SPA agency
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:29 AM
Apr 2015

RIYADH: A Saudi Arabian border guard was killed and 10 others wounded when their observation post came under fire from a mountainous area in Yemen, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday in comments carried by state news agency SPA.

http://www.thecairopost.com/news/144516/news/saudi-border-guard-killed-by-gunfire-from-yemen-spa-agency

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
13. Saudi soldier killed, 10 wounded by gunfire from Yemen
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:36 AM
Apr 2015

Riyadh--Saudi Arabia said Thursday a soldier was shot dead and 10 more wounded by gunfire from across the Yemeni border, its first casualties since beginning a operation against Shiite rebels a week ago.

The Border Guards at a post in the kingdom's southwestern Asir region came "under fire from a mountainous interior zone," the interior ministry said in a statement on the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia has 150,000 troops and 100 warplanes assigned to the Yemen operation, according to a Saudi adviser, but says it has no plan for now to send ground forces into the neighbouring country.

Last Friday a US defence official said two Saudi pilots who ejected from their F-15 jet off Yemen's coast had been rescued.

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/middle-east/330186/saudi-soldier-killed-10-wounded-by-gunfire-from-yemen

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
9. Reports: Saudi Arabia Opens Border Fences with Yemen
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:31 AM
Apr 2015

TEHRAN (FNA)- Saudi Arabia has reportedly removed border fences with Yemen in a measure that could suggest Riyadh is preparing for a ground invasion of its Southern neighbor days after unleashing airstrikes against the violence-hit country.

According to Al-Bawaba, Saudi forces opened border fences with the Northwestern Yemeni province of Hajjah on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, local media sources broadcast online video footage, which apparently shows Saudi tanks being transferred to border areas with Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for eight days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi airstrikes have killed at least 198, mostly women and children, and injured hundreds more.

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940113000289

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
10. Has the Saudi/Egyptian ground war in Yemen begun?
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:32 AM
Apr 2015

Yemenis in the port city of Aden have been awaiting the arrival of Houthi rebels for weeks. Since the deposed Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi fled the country after establishing a government in exile in that city, it’s fall to the Shiite-dominated rebel group has appeared imminnet.

The fighting overnight has been intense. “Witnesses have reported bodies lying in the street after intense rebel shelling and sniper attacks,” BBC reported. “A spokeswoman for the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told the BBC that its hospital in Aden had received more than 500 injured people from all sides in the conflict over the last two weeks.”

“Shiite rebel forces backed by tanks and heavy machine guns pushed deeper into Yemen’s second-largest city on Wednesday in a bid to strengthen their hold even as Saudi-led airstrikes attempt to cut off their supply lines and cripple their capabilities,” A Washington Post dispatch revealed.

http://hotair.com/archives/2015/04/02/has-the-saudiegyptian-ground-war-in-yemen-begun/

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
11. 44 killed in fighting in Yemen's Aden: medics, army
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:33 AM
Apr 2015

Aden--At least 44 people were killed Thursday in fighting between rebels and supporters of Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in the southern city of Aden, medics and a military official said.

Eighteen civilians and six members of a local militia resisting the rebels' advance were killed in the fighting, a medic said.

A military official said 20 Huthi Shiite rebels also died in the clashes.


http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/middle-east/330193/44-killed-in-fighting-in-yemen-s-aden-medics-army

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
12. Yemen's Shiite rebels capture presidential palace in Aden
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 10:34 AM
Apr 2015

SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Yemen's Shiite rebels and their allies fought their way through the commercial center of Aden on Thursday and seized the presidential palace on a strategic hilltop in this southern coastal city, security officials said.

The capture was a major blow to the Saudi-led coalition, which has been carrying out airstrikes for a week now across Yemen, including in the capital, Sanaa, in a campaign meant to halt the advance of the Iran-backed rebels known as Houthis.

The Maasheeq palace in Aden - a cluster of colonial-era villas perched atop a rocky hill that juts into the Arabian Sea - was President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's last seat of power before he fled to Saudi Arabia last month in the face of the Houthi advance. He had earlier fled to Aden from rebel-held Sanaa.

Fighting was still underway late Thursday as Hadi's forces and loyalists were holding on to some scattered parts of Aden after losing the palace and the city center.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_YEMEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-04-02-09-06-43

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
16. Saudi-led coalition in Yemen fights off Houthi advance
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 12:30 PM
Apr 2015

Houthi forces pulled back from positions in central Aden after air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition, residents of the southern Yemeni port city said.

They said a unit of Houthi and allied fighters, who had advanced in tanks and armoured vehicles through Aden's Khor Maksar district 24 hours earlier, pulled back at dawn on Thursday, although they remained in parts of the neighbourhood.

The Houthis' recent gains in Aden, the last major foothold of supporters of Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, have happened despite a week of air strikes by Saudi Arabia and a coalition of mainly Arab Gulf allies.

At least 19 people were killed in intense clashes between the rebels and local militia and residents loyal to Hadi near Khor Maksar on Wednesday.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2015/04/yemen-houthis-advance-saudi-led-bombing-150401233451334.html

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
17. Yemen’s war reflects a new regional era
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 01:52 PM
Apr 2015

---

This era may be ending now, and Yemen is its exclamation point. The situation there is not occurring in a vacuum or without warning. One of the most dramatic developments during the Arab uprisings and consequent civil wars (Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen) of the past four years has been the steady increase in military actions across the region by the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council states.

These conservative states historically worked discreetly and indirectly to achieve their diplomatic goals, which focused mainly on preserving a status quo across the region that did not disrupt prevailing patterns of energy flows, conservative governance, and American-Western dominance, or at least prevalence.

The war in Yemen signals the end – at least for now – of GCC discretion. It also probably marks the start of what should be an exciting, complex and protracted process by which the surviving regional Arab and Islamic powers (mainly Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran, with Egypt aspiring to regain a role on Saudi coattails) negotiate new relationships that could shape a historic security architecture for the region for years to come.

This reconfiguration of the roles of indigenous regional powers will help to address the two other dimensions of violence, turbulence and uncertainty we have endured in many parts of the Middle East, since 1990. First, the fragmentation and incoherence of domestic identity and authority; and second, the inconsistent roles of global powers, mainly the U.S. and Russia, but also comprising aspects of European and Chinese policies.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2015/Apr-01/292867-yemens-war-reflects-a-new-regional-era.ashx

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
18. Wicked sandstorm whips through the Arabian Peninsula
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 02:02 PM
Apr 2015

A massive sandstorm is tracking across parts of the Middle East this week. The storm filled Saudi Arabia’s air with a thick, yellow-brown haze on Wednesday and has since spread across the peninsula into the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen on Thursday.

A ridge of high pressure has built over the region, and strong winds from the north are whipping across the dry, desert landscape. A visible satellite animation from Scott Bachmeier at the CIMSS Satellite Blog shows the storm as it blew south across the Arabian Peninsula on Thursday.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/04/02/wicked-sandstorm-whips-through-dubai-uae-arabian-peninsula/?tid=hpModule_99d5f542-86a2-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
19. Fisk: Yemen crisis: What will Saudi Arabia do when – not if – things go wrong in their war ...
Thu Apr 2, 2015, 02:03 PM
Apr 2015


The depth of the sectarian war unleashed in Yemen shows itself in almost every Gulf Arab official statement and in the official press.

The Saudis take it as read that Iranian forces are actually present in Yemen to assist the Shia Houthis. There are Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon with the Houthis. Iran is itself behind the Houthi uprising. One Kuwaiti journalist calls the Houthi rebels “rats”. As usual in Arab wars, real evidence has gone out of the window.

Another journalist, the editor-in-chief of the Kuwaiti Arab Times, Ahmed al-Jarallah, concluded a political tribute to King Salman of Saudi Arabia with the observation that “leaders of the (Saudi) coalition for virtue and stability in Yemen and the region made their point through their offensive against the tunnel and vice of conspiracy where the rats of extremism, enmity and division incubate”.

“Rats” and “incubation” – that’s the kind of language sectarian wars also produce. No-one in the wealthy Gulf states has asked if Saudi Arabia is entering the Yemen war simply because it does not want another Shia state on its border – after the Americans “liberated” Iraq and installed a Shia government in Baghdad. Saudi generals talk of massive casualties among the Houthis – they still say they have not killed civilians, even though they use the tired phrase “collateral damage” in their denials. No-one challenges the boasts of its victory – or dares to mention that this extraordinary coalition is a Sunni force fighting Shia.

At a Syrian refugee conference in Kuwait this week, the Saudis were lauded for their generosity in pledging $60m for homeless and destitute Syrians out of a total of $3.8bn of promised aid world wide. No-one was ungenerous enough to mention that the Saudis bought $67bn worth of weapons from the US in 2011-12.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yemen-crisis-what-will-saudi-arabia-do-when--not-if--things-go-wrong-in-their-war-with-the-shia-houthi-rebels-10153113.html

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
23. Saudi prestige suffers a blow in Yemen fight
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 11:31 AM
Apr 2015

Two months after ascending to the throne, King Salman of Saudi Arabia bet his prestige as a new leader on rallying his Arab allies for a military campaign to save Yemen from an Iranian takeover – all under the direction of his son, the new defense minister and chief of the royal court.

The results a week later showed just how big a risk they took.

Houthis, portrayed as Iranian proxies by the Saudis but few others, have continued their advances despite nine nights of Saudi-led airstrikes. On Thursday, Houthi fighters captured a presidential palace in the southern port of Aden, killed a Saudi soldier in a skirmish at the border and wounded five others.

Islamist militants, meanwhile, capitalized on the chaos caused by the airstrikes to free a leader of al-Qaeda and hundreds of others from prison and to partly seize control of a crucial city in the south.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/saudi-prestige-suffers-a-blow-in-yemen-fight/article23787408/

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
24. Yemen leader's Hadi loyalists Gain Ground in Aden--Arab Coalition Spokesman/03-April-2015
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 01:39 PM
Apr 2015
Yemen leader's loyalists drive Houthis from Aden

Houthi rebels withdraw from city centre as Saudi planes drop medical aid and weapons to forces backing president.

03 Apr 2015 17:17 GMT | War & Conflict, Middle East

Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri, a spokesman for the Arab coalition told a press conference air strikes had significantly degraded the Houthi fighters' military capacities and Hadi loyalists had gained ground in the city.

Asiri said the Houthis were only creating "media opportunities" when they captured the presidential residence in Aden, and were cornered in some areas.

Despite inflicting heavy losses on the Houthis, the airstrikes might not be enough to halt their advance, said Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall, who has reported extensively on Yemen.

"Airstrikes have never really been so decisive. The Houthis can easily blend with the local population and they have almost the entire support of the Yemeni army," he said.

"They [Saudi-led coalition] know they cannot win this war without putting troops on the ground...they are probably waiting for more weakening of Houthi defences [before they do that]."

Asiri accepted it would be difficult for the Saudi-led coalition to eliminate the Houthis entirely because they were moving in many small groups.

Early on Friday, warplanes from the coalition dropped crates of weapons and medical supplies by parachute over Tawahi, a district on the far end of the Aden peninsula which is still held by Hadi loyalists, fighters told the Reuters news agency.

More at:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/yemen-leader-loyalists-drive-houthis-aden-150403132431234.html

The crates included light weapons, telecommunications equipment and rocket-propelled grenades, they said.

The coalition, which is trying to reassert Hadi's authority as a prelude to political negotiations, has repeatedly said that sending ground troops into Yemen remains an option but not an automatic move.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
25. +1.
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 02:20 PM
Apr 2015

Asir is the Western province of SA, where some of the Shi'ia live. (Tnat name there: al Asiri)

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
26. Al Qaeda takes over Mukalla army base in Yemen
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 03:57 PM
Apr 2015

The al Qaeda jihadists killed an unspecified number of soldiers and captured a large cache of military hardware, a security official speaking on conditions of anonymity said Friday.

"The soldiers resisted the al Qaeda elements as much as they could, but they could not stop them from controlling the command headquarters," the official said.

The regional commander and his troops pulled back to military camps near the city's airport, which is one of the few areas not controlled by al Qaeda, according to military sources. The Jihadist forces captured a tank and two armored vehicles.

Residents were reportedly fleeing the city in panic, while several hundreds of al Qaeda fighters were patrolling and setting up roadblocks in the city, flying the black banner of the extremist network.

http://www.dw.de/al-qaeda-takes-over-mukalla-army-base-in-yemen/a-18361004

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
30. They are fighting them both at the moment.
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 06:47 PM
Apr 2015

Al Qaeda, I mean. The Houthis are only fighting al Qaeda (of those). I have seen hints of ISIL in Yemen, but it smelled of bullshit.

Edit: It does seem unlikely that al Qaeda would align with the Houthis.

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
31. Yes, the article mentioned al Qaeda flying the "black flags" which was new to me...
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 07:34 PM
Apr 2015

that they used the "black flag" and it hinted of them implying al Qaeda is ISIL.

Maybe al Qaeda has always used that flag...but, I've been watching this stuff since we invaded Iraq...and never saw media using the "bf" to identify them before. Did make the article seem a "bit off" in the accuracy department, imho... But, who knows? Maybe it is al Qaeda disguised as a ISIL or vice versa. Depends on who we read for the "spin."

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
32. Well to be honest I don't expect much.
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 07:42 PM
Apr 2015

I allow for a very high noise level, lots of bad english grammar, and errors of fact all the time, that's why I read a lot when I get interested enough to want to understand what is going on. Even when we are not emotionally involved we are not very accurate observers or reporters.

I think you may be right, but I haven't studied the jihadis much, flags and names of groups and things, it's a big subject, they change all the time. But the black flag is ISIL too, if it is al Qaeda, I've read that many places.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
33. Yemen burns as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula watches with glee
Sat Apr 4, 2015, 11:30 AM
Apr 2015

When the jets from the Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen swooped in, they hit the gas tanker with pinpoint accuracy.

It blew up, obliterating its contents, its driver, and everything around it.

Unfortunately for residents nearby, and the drivers of cars stopped behind it, that included them.

"I saw women taken out of the burning buildings carbonized," said one witness, Mohammed Qaied, 53. Another neighbour, Saleh Al-Jehafi, managed to hurl his daughter through the flames to safety before he was consumed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/yemen/11515654/Yemen-burns-as-Al-Qaeda-in-the-Arabian-Peninsula-watches-with-glee.html

KoKo

(84,711 posts)
34. The Pentagon Plan to ‘Divide and Rule’ the Muslim World--(history sourcing, overview)
Sat Apr 4, 2015, 01:45 PM
Apr 2015

(A long read with some history of Rand Corporation, NeoCon's, etc. prescription for the Middle East)


The Pentagon Plan to ‘Divide and Rule’ the Muslim World

-----snip-----

Yemen is the latest casualty of a neoconservative strategy commissioned by the US Army to ‘capitalise on Sunni-Shia conflict’ in the Middle East - the goal is nothing short of ‘Western dominance’

By Nafeez Ahmed

Nafeez Ahmed, PhD, is an investigative journalist, international security scholar and best-selling author who tracks what he calls the 'crisis of civilization'. He is a winner of the Project Censored Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for his Guardian reporting on the intersection of global ecological, energy and economic crises with regional geopolitics and conflicts. He has also written for The Independent, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Scotsman, Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, Quartz, Prospect, New Statesman, Le Monde diplomatique, New Internationalist. His work on the root causes and covert operations linked to international terrorism officially contributed to the 9/11 Commission and the 7/7 Coroner’s Inquest.


Divide and rule

The escalation of the crisis in Yemen threatens to spiral into a full-scale Sunni-Shia regional war-by-proxy.

Since 9/11, every country in the region touched by major US interference has collapsed into civil war as their social fabric has been irreversibly shattered: Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya.

The ensuing arc of sectarian warfare bears uncanny resemblance to scenarios explored in a little-known study by an influential Washington DC defence contractor.

The 2008 RAND Corporation report was sponsored by the US Army Training and Doctrine Command’s Army Capability Integration Centre. It set out US government policy options for prosecuting what it described as “the long war” against “adversaries” in “the Muslim world,” who are “bent on forming a unified Islamic world to supplant Western dominance”.

Muslim world adversaries include “doctrinaire” Salafi-jihadists; “religious nationalist organisations” like “Hezbollah and Hamas that participate in the political process” but are also “willing to use violence”; secular groups “such as communists, Arab nationalists, or Baathists”; and “nonviolent organisations” because their members might later join “more radical organisations”.

The report suggests that the US Army sees all Muslim political groups in the region that challenge the prevailing geopolitical order as “adversaries” to be countered and weakened.

Among the strategies explored by the US Army-sponsored report is “Divide and Rule,” which calls for “exploiting fault lines between the various SJ [Salafi-jihadist] groups to turn them against each other and dissipate their energy on internal conflicts,” for instance between “local SJ groups” focused on “overthrowing their national government” and transnational jihadists like al-Qaeda.

This appears to be the strategy in Libya and Syria, where local insurgents, despite affiliations with al-Qaeda, received covert US aid to overthrow Gaddafi and Assad.

The RAND report recommendeds that the US and its local allies “could use the nationalist jihadists to launch proxy IO [information operation] campaigns to discredit the transnational jihadists… the United States and the host nation could even help the nationalist jihadists execute a military campaign to stamp out al-Qaeda elements that are present locally.”


Continued:

Source: I find ICH easier on the eye without distractions, but here's both links for the article:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41438.htm

and

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/pentagon-plan-divide-and-rule-muslim-world-1690265165

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