“Yemen has become the base for Al Qaida organisation in the Arabian peninsula” according to Abdul Bari Atwan, the editor in chief of the London-based newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi and an expert on Al Qaida being one of the few journalists to have spent time with Osama Bin Laden.
“I have no doubts that Osama either visited Yemen or is actually based there,” Atwan told Gulf News in an interview.
“When I met him in Tora Bora [in November 1996] I asked him, ‘One of these days you will be kicked out of Afghanistan like you were from Sudan. Have you considered an alternative?’ His answer was Yemen because ‘its mountains are like Tora Bora’s and the country will embrace me and will be warm towards me’.”
[…]
Atwan says the country is now a semi-failed state and he believes it offers the best environment for Al Qaida to set base there.The latest incident to highlight Yemen’s fragile state occurred last week when bombs were found on two cargo planes and traced to the country.
Atwan says the Americans, by exaggerating the phenomenon of these courier bombs, are aiming to set up a military base in Yemen and they want to have their troops there to control the marine routes in the Arabian Sea and Bab Al Mandeb Straits — which is a hotspot.
“If Al Qaida manages to set up a strong base in Yemen, it will be easier to disturb the oil and the business routes and this could be one of the incentives for the US,” Atwan explained.
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“Expert Says Bin Laden In Yemen?”
Tasseomancy is amazing isn’t it?
He’s probably working at a 7/11 in New Jersey. That would be funny.
It’s just possible, just crazy talking here, that we can’t afford to invade every nation on earth to find him. Being that our last 2 wars were put on credit card (unpaid) for deficit hawk fiscal conservatives (sigh). No war bonds, now war taxes, no sacrifice by the public, just used the national credit card. I don’t want to do that again. Someone needs to be grown ups and tell the public to stop acting like 5 year old in the checkout line at the grocery store reaching for a candy bar. Someone has to explain that if you WANT stuff (wars, Medicare Drug benefit, etc) you have to PAY for it. This idea that you can spend an extra $500 billion or $2 trillion and cut taxes and it all magically works out…it doesn’t. It didn’t under Reagan, HW Bush or W Bush. It’s never worked.
Def: Insanity = Doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result
“Abdul Bari Atwan… London-based newspaper …spent time with Osama Bin Laden”
So shouldn’t we invade London and get this person with links-to-terrorism ?
bin Laden is dead. It’s been reported all over the Middle East. Besides, how easy is it to hide a 6 foot guy who needs a dialysis machine?
[Actually, 6’6″. Even harder to hide. — ed.]
The warmongers in the Pentagon just want more wars so that they can keep their budget numbers up, and justify their existence.
I’d like to see the CONs cut the Pentagon’s budget as proportionately as they cut others.
How about just have the Saudis invade Yemen?
or UAE?
I tell you he is a Keno dealer in NV named Frank and he supports the Tea Party!
Cursor_
These guys need to make up their minds. Yemen, Pakistan, Iran, Langley… which is it?
I remember someone on DU, about 4 years ago, saying he was in Yemen.
What the US media forgot to tell you, was the old news that US bombers already plastered Yemen with bomblets from cluster bombs.
The weak and unsuccessful attempt at bombing the US through the airlines was all that Yemen, a weak and unsuccessful country, could do to retaliate to their invader. You don’t hear about that.
Half the story coming through goes a long way to keeping the “crazy terrorist” meme alive so the public can continue to be manipulated by the government.
I think I’ve told this story before but when I was visiting Muscat, Oman, I spent the day with a Yemeni who was a DEAD RINGER for Osama.
I don’t mean a vague resemblance — this looked EXACTLY like ObL. Face, beard, garb, height… the works.
He offered to drive us somewhere and I felt a little like Juan Williams while loading my family in the car with a guy who looked exactly like ObL.
But I’m glad I didn’t get scared off! The guy was gregarious and funny and helpful. My only regret is that I didn’t get a photo of him and my family. That would have been worth framing.
>> TooManyPuppies said, on November 4th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
>> These guys need to make up their minds. Yemen, Pakistan, Iran, Langley… which is it?
Conventional wisdom is just over the border in Pakistan. I’ve been near where they speculate ObL is hiding and I can easily believe he is there.
The area is very rugged with lots of small villages he could move between.
More importantly, is the protection he would get from locals. If an outsiders approached (Americans, Pakistanis, Afghanis, no matter) Osama would hear about it long before they arrived.
Furthermore, most people there have never made a telephone call, let alone have any idea who they might call to turn him in or get the $25 million reward. That amount of money is meaningless to them.
But, who knows? Osama is of Yemeni ancestry, right? Although Yemen is quite far away, Osama could sneak there fairly easily without passing through any cities but I’m not sure why he would want to.
Yemen is where several former Gitmo detainees ended up, becoming senior leaders of Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula. Many of them graduated from Saudi Arabia’s ‘rehabilitation program’. Perhaps some are plants, and that’s how they broke up the bomb plot last week.
MikeN,
Pakistan and Yemen now seem to be the more fertile ground of Al Qaeda and their affiliates.
I haven’t been to Yemen but my impression is that, like Pakistan, it has the right mix of lawlessness but good-enough infrastructure to organize a radical group.
In Pakistan, which I know of, you can organize a pretty big group but still keep off the lazy and incompetent police’s radar. Better yet, you can bribe them to protect you.
But, there is enough infrastructure to publish radical newspapers, maintain your web site, edit your radical videos, etc.
This is also my impression of Yemen. I’d be curious if anyone here has been there and can affirm or correct my impression.
>> TooManyPuppies said, on November 4th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
>> These guys need to make up their minds. Yemen, Pakistan, Iran, Langley… which is it?
Iran is not likely. Remember, Al Qaeda hate Shiites. Futhermore, Iran like Saddam’s Iraq, have no desire for an egomaniac radical like Osama to be in their country.
One of the most bone-headed moves that Bush did was reject Iranian offers for help against their mutual enemies, Al Qaeda and the Taliban, after 9/11.
@ #14
I know that, just parroting what the lame-stream likes to spew outta their ass. My money’s on Langley, VA.
#4 Agreed, bin Laden is dead.
USS Cole happened in Yemen, no?
USS Liberty and the USS Cole had damage that looked strikingly similar to each other. We know who attacked the USS Liberty, probably the same people attacked the USS Cole.
Betcha ten trillion dollars bin Laden is dead and has been for at least eight years.