The attempt bombing of flight 253 last December and the connection between the Yemeni clerk, Anwar Awlaky with Major Nidal Hassan, the Fort Hood shooter, brought a worldwide spotlight on Yemen.
A while ago, in a very cold day and when I arrived to my house, getting off the car, I was called by my neighbor, Jimmy. He asked if I have some time to chat as we usually do from time to time. Jimmy, an elderly white American whose wife passed away some years ago lives by himself and always follows the news that he also reads the Yemeni American News. He offered chocolate to my daughter and asked me a few questions.
"What is happening in Yemen, and is it true that this Nigerian man who tried to blow up the flight 253 in Detroit was trained in your native country" he asked. This was the first time that Jimmy asks me a political question since we've met. I explained to Jimmy that these fundamentalists in Yemen did not just show up in Yemen, but actually a product of the United States and West during the Afghan-Soviet war era. I added that the reason for their continuous presence is the desire to destroy them with urgency and least losses . "This "disease" needs lots of time, effort, and money to end" I said to Jimmy.
I mentioned to Jimmy, that the war on Iraq was a major mistake which led to the flourishing of such a radical ideology. Nevertheless, fundamentalists are in every religion, though the situation in Yemen is different due to Yemen's economic status, high unemployment, geographic nature, making it fertile for these radical organization to grow, not to mention the shi'te fundamentalists involvement in the fight.
Jimmy took a few moments and then asked about the government, regime, and if there is an authority in Yemen. My answer was: there is an authority but there is no government. Jimmy asked curiously, how so? I said, there is the authority, which protects itself but does not protect the government. Jimmy then asked, is there an election every number of years? I said there is an election but like other Arab countries, there is no change. He then asked, are there well-formed institutions? I replied: Indeed there are many, but it's very hard to provide and run services. He then asked, do people in Yemen pay taxes? I answered: Yes, but not in everything. His final question was: do you think the United States' and West's upcoming aid of 150 million dollars will solve the problem of fundamentalism and help the Yemeni government capture these fundamentalists? My answer was both yes and no.
Yes, for a short period of time, this aid will help Yemen. However, this support will make the Yemeni government addicted to foreign aid and will not go after the extremists in order to earn more aid from the U.S. and West to fight them. The United States and aiding countries must pay attention to this issue and focus on supporting the economic base of the country and the maintenance of security. They also have to realize that this task is a responsibility of Yemen, its neighboring countries, and the international community. These aiding countries need not to forget that fighting extremists needs programs and plans to achieve tangible results.
Rasheed Alnozili is the Editor-In-Chief of the Yemeni American News . This article is originally written in Arabic and translated to English by Adel A. Mozip.
