An Interview Worth Reading

This interview in Spiegel with Yemeni General Jahja Abdullah is a very informative read on the situation inside Yemen. Some things I think stick out and are worth noting.

The Yemen government refers to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps when discussing "certain circles in Iran." At the end of the Bush administration, the US treated the IRGC and government as one and the same. There has been no major legislation regarding Iran yet in the Obama administration and it remains unclear if Obama treats them the same.

Note the cooperative relationship between Yemen and Saudi Arabia - including at sea. Effective military cooperation between any pair of Middle Eastern countries is rare, and historically only seen when focused on Israel. There are significant Saudi Navy assets dedicated to the Yemen littorals right now - including a many speedboats and a handful of warships. I suspect that Saudi Arabia is developing their RFP for submarines right now, and ISR/EW are high on the list of capabilities desired for their submarines as a direct result of their activities in Yemen.

Note the relationship between Yemen and Somalia as discussed by the General. My problem with this CNAS report on Yemen late last year, besides being written as a backgrounder for the State Department and having minimal value for the DoD, is that it failed to make any connection of substance between the problems in Yemen and the rest of the region. The report fails to mention the connection to Somalia or the Iranian arms link, and while noting the Saudi naval blockade - no reason for the blockade given. This is a big picture problem, not multiple small picture problems. CNAS can and should do better. This report is akin to discussing the problems in Afghanistan without mentioning Pakistan.

Finally and most important, note the government framing the context of the religious high ground. It is the long term solution for both governments and the people to stand up and speak out against the extreme aspects of Islam. Not trivial, and important to be continuously disseminated in the public through media.