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RUTHLESS RAGE: Saudi Strikes in Yemen ‘Open the Door’ to Terror
Shawn Helton
21st Century Wire
While Western allies would have you believe that the Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen are meant to ‘restore’ order – we’ve had no explanation as to how this unprovoked bombardment will help build a peaceful new system for an already fractured region.
This week saw a new batch of Saudi airstrikes hammering the capital of Yemen. The targeted campaign has continued its breach of international law, following a ceasefire flip-flop by Saudi Arabia earlier last week.
Although it’s been just over month since the aggressive bombing campaign began, the US along with other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) allies, are still openly supporting the asymmetrical proxy war that is tearing Yemen apart.
‘Striking Yemen’ – Saudi air raids destroy part of a neighborhood in Sana’a, Yemen, on April 26, 2015. (Photo link reutersmedia.net)
With many mainstream outlets pushing a heavily biased narrative regarding Yemen, there are legitimate humanitarian concerns and some larger outlets can no longer ignore the truth about the Pentagon-approved Saudi airstrikes. This sentiment appears to be echoed in a recent NY Times report from April 26th, as the failure of Saudi air raids are acknowledged:
“The air campaign has killed scores of civilians and earned derision from critics in Yemen and abroad who have called it strategically incoherent for failing to either dislodge the Houthis and their allies or to force them to negotiate.”
‘Death from Above’ – Another air raid conducted following Saudi Arabia’s ceasefire reversal last week. (Photo link nyt.com)
Terror After Chaos
As previously reported by the LA Times, as well as here at 21WIRE, Al Qaeda militants in Yemen, also known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or ‘AQAP’, had been able to organize a jailbreak and robbery of a Central Bank in Yemen, while the Western-backed proxy war targeted the tribal Houthis.
In the LA Times piece entitled, “Al Qaeda in Yemen using chaos of war to carve out terrorism haven,” we see a clearer picture emerging out of the wreckage in Yemen. One that depicts the rise of AQAP following the dubious air raids conducted by Saudi Arabia:
“AQAP fighters launched a jailbreak near Mukalla that freed about 300 prisoners, including several dozen of their comrades, officials and residents said.”
“The militants also stole more than $1 million in Yemeni rials from the local branch of the Central Bank, security officials said, and set up roadblocks across the city.”
Other aspects of this report outline a clear ‘counter-terrorism’ failure in the region, along with the casual disclosure that AQAP terror has grown in the aftermath of the Saudi-led airstrikes.
As of April 17th, we’re told that AQAP had been able to seize a regional airport, a coastal oil terminal, an Arabian Sea port and a weapons depot after an alleged pact with other local tribes. Yet, the US-sanctioned proxy war in Yemen would rather concern itself with the indigenous Houthis, who have sought regional autonomy, than to go after terror networks that are openly destroying the region:
“The Houthis have fought with AQAP, Sunni Muslims whom they consider enemies. But the Saudi airstrikes have only targeted the Houthis — giving Al Qaeda a relatively free hand.”
Above we see just a glimpse of the foreign policy nightmare that has yet to fully unfold within Yemen. As think-tank planners inside the beltway look to push the next phase of operations in Yemen, we’re told the chaos in the region could be expanded by AQAP, along with other Sunni militants. Yemen is on the brink of the type of chaos we saw during NATO’s 2011 onslaught of Libya.
‘Targeted Resistance’ – For over a month Saudi-led air raids have left villages in rubble. (Photo link enca.com)
Once again, its worth mentioning a revealing report from a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) March 19th release. The article predicts the rise of AQAP extremism as a symptom of the US-GCC proxy war in Yemen:
“A sectarian conflict in Yemen could help AQAP exploit the instability and expand its domestic insurgency among Sunni communities.”
Before the sectarian conflict had been completely exploited and manipulated to the degree its is today in Yemen, its important to remember that in February of 2006, “twenty-three convicted terrorists escaped from a high-security prison in the capital of Sana’a, a turning point for al-Qaeda in the region.”
According to officials, the “CIA coordinates closely with Saudi intelligence officers, who have an extensive network of on-the-ground informants,” in Yemen.
According to a Reuters news release on April 28th, Yemeni Vice President Khaled Bahah has called on the Houthis to follow the UN Security Council’s demand to end fighting in the region. However, the demand for peace is hypocritical when you consider that the Saudi air campaigns have been without condemnation from Western allies.
Additionally, the Houthis have been told to give up their arms in order to reach an apparent resolution with the Yemeni government, a stance which is supported by the UN.
This of course is a hypocritical demand when you consider that the Saudi air raids ending anytime soon – not to mention that AQAP, along with other Sunni militants, have also escalated violence within the region since the conflict began.
On April 24th, in the UK’s Telegraph, were told that ‘AQAP terror’ could effect the world’s financial system and that AQAP has ‘strengthened’ itself within Yemen:
“Saudi Arabia and potentially world markets is that they cross the sands and launch attacks in the kingdom, which is the world’s largest exporter of crude. Earlier this week Saudi’s interior ministry warned of the possibility that oil installations and shopping malls may be attacked by terrorists, while the last few weeks has seen a spate of shootings around the capital Riyadh.”
Well, according to the LA Times report mentioned in the above portion of this article, AQAP has already gained control of a coastal oil terminal - but yet the Houthis remain the focus for Western allies, as known terror entities have taken advantage of a shattered Yemen.
‘AQAP & Paris?’ – Al-Malahem Media, Al-Qaeda’s glossy media outlet, produced a suspicious propaganda video in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shooting. (Photo link theguardian.com)
AQAP & the Paris Attack
This past January, following the ‘theatrical’ Paris shootings in and around the offices of the salacious periodical Charlie Hebdo, we were told that AQAP had taken responsibility for the attacks.
Shortly thereafter, authorities had received reports that ‘two fugitive suspects’ had abandoned a vehicle along a country road, some 50 miles northeast of Paris. The two suspects were ID’d as Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi. As the narrative was rapidly unfolding at an unprecedented rate, Said Kouachi’s identification was ‘discovered’ in the seat of the apparent get-away vehicle at the scene in Paris.
It didn’t take long for investigators and media implicate the Kouachi brothers as being the two masked individuals seen fleeing the Charlie Hebdo offices, as the pair were reportedly known by authorities for sometime. 
‘Left at the Scene’ – Said Kouachi’s ID found in the apparent getaway car after the Paris shootings. (Photo link thegatewaypundit.com)
As the dust settled, there appeared to be ready-made conclusion to the events, complete with a massive marketing campaign in the wake of the shooting attack in Paris. It turns out that both Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi, were previously known to the authorities for quite sometime.
Just as the focus was on the Kouachi brothers perceived involvement in the Paris shooting event and a dramatic 6 hour hostage standoff with police, we learned that their suspected accomplice, Amedy Coulibaly, who according to official reports, stormed a kosher deli in Paris taking some 19 people hostage before succumbing to authorities as they closed in.
The elaborate three-day manhunt was on a 24 hour news cycle, as Coulibaly’s apparent girlfriend Hayat Boumeddiene, was able to slip away to Syria via Turkey during the height of the investigation – as all three alleged gunmen were killed by police.
Right on que, the media released audio recordings and terror declarations via YouTube, as Coulibaly had professed his allegiance to ISIS, while supposedly working with the Kouachi brothers, who claimed they were financed by AQAP, to carry out their part in the attack.
Here at 21WIRE, we covered the Paris events extensively and as the story progressed, the Kouachi brothers history with the terror group AQAP was revealed:
“The fugitive suspects are said to be the ‘French-born’ sons of Algerian-born parents, who incredibly, were already under police surveillance, with at least one already on a “no fly list”, and even jailed for 18 months for trying to travel on jihad to Iraq 10 years previous. US officials have also leaked to the media the talking point that one of the brothers, Said Kouachi, was also in Yemen in 2011 for a number of months “training with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)“
‘Terror Host’ - Anwar al-Awlaki as seen by intelligence group SITE.
(Photo link telegraph.co.uk)
According to claims from from BFMTV, a CNN affiliate, one of their ‘journalists’ had been in contact with all three gunmen and it was stated that Kouachi Brothers were “financed by Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen, ” revealing another bizarre twist in the Paris attack – one that seemed to lack all credibility. To many alternative analysts, it was an obvious attempt to shore up some of the loose ends within the Paris attack/siege narrative.
The following was an excerpt from 21WIRE written during the dubious Paris attack that provided key details left out of the official story and the al-Awlaki dossier:
“This story line appears to be bogus on its surface, not least of because al-Awlaki, aka the ‘American al Qaeda’ leader, was a CIA double agent – and was reported to have been killed 3 years ago by President Obama in a drone strike in Yemen on September 30, 2011. For at least three whole hours this afternoon, CNN reporters seemed to be unaware that al-Awlaki was long-dead, talking as if he was indeed alive and well in Yemen.”
If the tall-tales told during the Paris attack are to be accepted – it would mark a clear connection between AQAP and ISIS.
Sponsors of Terror
In a New York Times report from December of 2010 entitled “Cash Flow to Terrorists Evades U.S. Efforts,” it was stated that a classified memo sent by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, outlined that the largest financial support for Al Qaeda linked terror operations involving Sunni extremists worldwide – has come from Saudi Arabia, as other GCC allies have provided logistical support for terror:
“It has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority,” the cable said, concluding that donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.”
“The dispatch and others offered similarly grim views about the United Arab Emirates (“a strategic gap” that terrorists can exploit), Qatar (“the worst in the region” on counterterrorism) and Kuwait (“a key transit point”).
In a March 1st report by the Washington Post, we learn that Saudi royalty isn’t just at the top, as a detailed article outlines how many of the Arab states high-security prisons are more like 5 star hotels:
“Except for the machine guns and guard towers, the al-Hair high-security prison looks remarkably like a hotel — especially the conjugal-visit wing.”
Continuing, the Post states:
“Here, just around the corner from the prison ATM, married inmates are allowed to spend three to five private hours with their wives at least once a month, with fresh linens and tea and sweets on the nightstand.”
“Nearly 1,100 high-security prisoners, all of them jailed on terrorism-related charges, are serving time in this prison a few miles south of Riyadh. Al-Hair is the largest of five high-security Saudi prisons established in the past decade to deal with a growing terrorism threat, first from al-Qaeda and more recently from the Islamic State.”
As a more ground-based offensive in Yemen appears eminent, one wonders where exactly will the Saudis increase their pole of fighters from.
Here’s an interview conducted by The Real News that provides some historical context about Yemen and the influence of outside agitators affecting the region…
‘ISIS in Yemen?’ – We’re told that ISIS is in Yemen by Vocativ, an Israeli tabloid media outlet. (Image screenshot)
In yet another highly staged video by the media presenters of ISIS this week, we see a larger narrative appearing with the situation in Yemen. Since the conflict between the Yemeni government, the Shia Houthis and Saudia Arabia has escalated, we are now told that their just aren’t enough intelligence operators to keep AQAP at bay, now that the US embassy has been evacuated.
However, while its true evacuations have been made, its important to see the new story emerging here, as the US wants to avoid culpability later down the road, as their shared proxy war with the Saudis fails – while simultaneously setting the stage for future AQAP reprisals in the coming years.
As global conflicts intersect, you have overlapping stories, such as the ISIS video declaring its presence in Yemen, while at the very same time the Saudis report injecting some 300 trained fighters into already brutal conflict.
READ MORE YEMEN NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Yemen Files
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21st Century Wire is an alternative news agency designed to enlighten, inform and educate readers about world events which are not always covered in the mainstream media.
Source: http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/04/30/ruthless-rage-saudi-strikes-in-yemen-open-the-door-to-terror/
