Recently, we covered the Case of Amina Ali Aduladif in Yemen. Now Armies of Liberation has another issue for us. It's a kidnapping - and it's a good window on the situation there:
"Bill tells me I forgot to explain the significance of this. Silly me. There's an al-Qaeda jihad against the Zaidis in Yemen. Many of these al-Qaeda are leaders in the Yemeni government and security forces. They have bombed civilians, closed schools, trashed libraries, had mass arrests, prohibited Zaidi sermons, dragged charred bodies through the streets, and more. Its all a few posts down.
Nabil al-Wazer is prominent in the Popular Forces Union, a Zaidi party with a secular basis. He’s also related to the party’s leader. Just like they bombed the Zaidi region (Saada), now its the turn of the Zaidi party to be attacked. Its part of the jihad against the Yemeni Zaidis (shia). Otherwise the government would return him safely to his family.
Nabil al-Wazer is being held by Houssain Abo Dunya in Hajja since Tuesday. Kidnapped. He’s kidnapped. His location is known. Since Tuesday. Not a police in sight. Nothing...."
Um, so you're accusing the US govt of supporting Al Qaeda?
Well, there's an unenlightening comment from someone who knows better.
As we've seen with the Saudis, a lot can be going on inside a country that officially at least is not a U.S. enemy. One could also look at Indonesia, where the jihadis also have a base and authorities are quite happy to stand aside as the Islamists massacre Christians, or go easy on the Bali bombers, etc.
There's certainly no shortage of al-Qaeda activity in Pakistan, either, a nominal U.S. ally. No shortage of persecution of the Shi'a by Deobandi Sunni fanatics, certainly, where stories like the above are not uncommon.
The roots of Islamic terrorism go deep within Islam, and many governments are reluctant allies in dealing with it.
And you know all this... so why the dumb question?
If you want to dispute Armies of Liberation's characterization, or have an intelligent point to make, kindly make it directly. We'd welcome that.
Yeah, I would dispute the characterization that this is an al Qaeda jihad against the Zaidis. It's a local rebellion against the central government, which is trying to put it down with US support.
Ok, that's a more useful response.
Anyone have more details re: the players, and what's going on? And if the government is trying to put it down, why no action in this case?
I don't know about this particular case, but the al-houthi folks have already declared a truce. There will be periodic flare-ups and tensions again, to be sure. Jamestown.org is a good source for background on this conflict.