24

Yemen

I was lucky enough to go to Yemen early last week.

Yes; Yemen.

According to recent news reports, nothing more than the country of Taliban and Al Qaeda.

The current whipping post of media, commanding a lot of media air time on CNN, BBC, and I'm sure in newspapers across the world.

I have 2 thoughts on Yemen.

1.) I'm wondering why. I know the attempted bombing of the Delta flight had links to Yemen. But I wonder why a plan so intricately contrived would result with the man failing in colossal proportions. Questions such as "Why not attempt to light the "bomb" in a bathroom?" for instance.

Yemen is a country on the brink of civil war. Their people are reluctantly ruled by any type of government. The mountainous terrain combined with the tendency to seldomly travel away from home has a culture not unlike the U.S. 200 years ago, or (from what I've seen) like the Appalachias of the U.S. today. People really don't seem to care much about events outside of their town. Not that they are ignorant of world events, but everyone I met seemed happy and content and prefer to be left alone to live their lives.

I just heard a claim on Wolf Blitzer that U.S. officials in Yemen were hoping for a U.S. military excursion into Yemen.

Ouch.

I think it's possible Al Qaeda is waging a media war, and I think the U.S. is already losing. Media exposure is like free advertising for Al Qaeda, and a war into an otherwise peaceful people in their homeland will not do the U.S. any favors.

Media creates panic, and if the U.S. responds to panic and reacts with forces in Yemen, Al Qaeda will get everything it wants. It's a serious mistake, and one I hope we avoid.

I know this is just another manifestation of the U.S. attempting to police the world, and I know Al Qaeda is an inherently evil enemy, who's anger against "The West" is only outpaced by it's cagey intelligence.

But Yemen. Really? This is a country who will very possibly be thrown into an internal civil war soon, and this alone will preoccupy the citizens in the country. Picking on Yemen is a strange (and in my opinion) ignorant reach for American military officials.

Why? There are bigger problems here, and I think Al Qaeda hides in Yemen b/c it can. Where Al Qaeda get their money, instead, and who really is supporting them are the questions that the U.S. should worry about. The countries that are responsible for financing and fundamentalist thought driving Al Qaeda from what I've learned are not Yemeni.

It's like trying to beat the Chicago Cubs by paying all your attention to their Spring Training camp in HoHoKam Park in Arizona, and by running down there and bothering all the people in Phoenix who probably don't care much for the Cubs. The Cubs only go there to train.

All you will do is piss off a bunch of Arizonians who didn't care before.

I know it's hard to fight an organization without a country. But why, if they don't have a country, do we continue to try to place them in one?

It's messed up, and Al Queda sucks and need to be dealt with. But until the U.S. understands the organization or their thinking, I wish they would think a bit more.

I don't have answers, but mostly have a lot more questions. I wish those questions would be answered before we went and started another war on another front with people who (mostly) don't deserve it.

2) Yemen is beautiful. I flew into Sanaa in the middle of the night, and was welcomed very kindly by everyone I met. Airport security, customs, employees, taxis, restauranteurs, civilians, and on and on the list goes. Everyone I met or encountered, to the number, was super nice and friendly. I've had far worse experiences in other places about anti U.S. opinion.

Now, yes, I was there for a few days only, but still it was great.

Sanaa is a busy capital city in the center of the country. It sits at about 9000 feet above sea level, and is slightly cold at night now. It's not snowy, and gets little rain, but winter is definitely there. I was glad to have brought more than just my sandals.

There were plenty of modern places, and most seemed to be influenced greatly by Middle Eastern or African cultures. There is a close tie between Yemen and it's African neighbors. Ethiopa and Somalia, especially, seemed to have strong influences and a fair amount of people there.

Gat chews are pretty common as well, especially in Sanaa and in the north. It's more common in the afternoon to see a man with a huge chuck of gat leaves in his cheek than not. It kind of chills the people out, and I compare their attitudes and lifestyles with gat to the beach bums of California. I have a difficult time imagining many of them joining forces for anything. They are really relaxed and fun.

In the South of Yemen, I went to Mukalla. It has to be an untapped resort town. If a tourist minded company went there to develop now, they'd be the first. They'd also be rich.

Mukalla is located on the south coast of Yemen on the Arabian Sea, in what used to be Soviet occupied territory. The people there seemed to have a hard work ethic, and the town of Mukalla reflected that. It was very nice, easy to get transportation around, and shops were bountiful and nice. Things were very organized, and it felt like I was being tracked the entire time. :) (The police called the family I was staying with to tell them my place was delayed and I should show up one hour later than I'd planned. Yes, THE POLICE, not the airline. They then called again while I was sitting in the airport telling me it was time to go to the plane and leave. I felt loved.)

Seriously, I don't quite understand all that, but I think they know exactly what everyone is doing, but not out of fear, just out of routines established historically by the Soviets that have carried through until today. I really didn't feel uncomfortable or afraid, but for a guy who loves independence it seemed weird.

While there, we ate mostly at the house, but went out one time and had 2 ice creams, 2 sodas, and one water for 60 cents (U.S.). I know they aren't familiar with tourism, otherwise inflation would have hit.

I heard there were two places there who would take SCUBA divers out. I'm planning on going back and giving it a try, b/c based on it's location it looks like the kind of place huge tuna, sharks, or other ocean fish may occasionally visit. And I'm guessing it won't cost much.

So, as I go back to work today from a long vacation, I'm very curious about the media, the news reports, and the ensuing actions that the countries will take in the next few months.

Unfortunately, I was stupid and didn't bring a camera, so no photos. Sorry, they would have been incredible.

Until next time,

Foster