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Washington’s Yemen Front

How effective it will be in netting high-profile targets is anybody’s guess. Given the flawed intelligence network at hand, which has helped Al Qaeda make inroads in Yemen, it is going to be a daunting task. The United States’ desire to multiply its overt and covert presence in another Middle Eastern country will definitely lead to more resentment. In the midst of two unfinished wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the third front can cost it dearly. Yet, the crisis in Yemen, which is spilling across the borders threatening to cause a regional catastrophe, needs to be checked. America can do well by ensuring logistical and financial support to Sana’a to fight the enemy, rather than undertaking a
nother misadventure.

Yemen’s conflict is not merely an issue of Al Qaeda presence. The country’s uneasiness with a sizeable minority makes it a political issue as well. The Houthi Shias are fighting the government troops in the north since 2004, complaining of social, religious and economic discrimination. The turmoil seems to have no end as the government is bent upon achieving a military solution. If Yemen’s domestic strife is to be addressed in a holistic manner, a political recourse is inevitable. The dispossessed Shia community needs to be won over by bringing an end to its sense of marginalisation. However, in doing so, it needs to be dealt as a separate issue and not one in comparison with Al Qaeda.

It would, however, be wise for the US to recast its priorities in the region before going after the dreaded terrorist group. Yemen and Somalia have of late come to be known as the new operational bases of Al Qaeda. It would be more appropriate for Washington to mull over a regional approach in fighting Al Qaeda, rather than going solo. Its misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost the world quite dearly, and the region cannot withstand another major conflict. The ongoing economic recession and perpetual instability in the Middle East should be enough of a warning to take a collaborative course, not one based on confrontation. One fears undue meddling might also result in proliferation of problems for the embattled government of President Ali Abdullah Al Saleh, who is fighting a war on both the internal and external fronts. Washington’s new front in Yemen is fraught with concerns. It cannot afford to expand a war, which it is already 
struggling to win.