The new frontier

Yemen is creeping very fast onto the main stage. The embassies of Japan, the US, the UK and France in the capital Sana’a were closed for some days because of a unspecified terror threat. Local government killed 2 Al Queda suspects in a battle. Washington and London announced increased security cooperation with Sana’a. Hillary Clinton warns Yemen is a clear and present threat. And a growing headache.

It nearly feels that we are still in the Bush years.

I guess US TV networks are scrambling staff to head down to the unknown Yemen. And probably with as basic information about the country, its history and traditions only some Google and Wikipedia searches. It will be stereotyping to the extreme. Explaining a very complex country amidst a complex region in 45 seconds and to an audience with very little to no knowledge about this faraway land. A land of tribal rules, of weak central government and destabilised by war, rebellion and uprising. A very poor nation surrounded by a pool of oil billionaires in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait,... The file footage of the big hole in the USS Cole will be played over and over and over again as a proof that terror evil is still very much alive in Yemen. It’s gonna be a journalistic disaster. Guaranteed.

And what kind of security cooperation are Washington and London thinking about? Special Forces on the ground? Air strikes on suspected terrorist outposts in the desolated mountains of Yemen? Cash incentives to the local authorities to do something about something? It’s all very tricky and misty. Lots of flashes from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yemen, the new frontier of the war on terror.

Yemen is in the spotlights and will stay there for a while. Afghanistan and Pakistan seem off the map for now. And Iraq is totally off air these days. Till the elections. And what about the lawless Somalia, just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen? A country with no central government for more than 2 decades now. Total anarchy. A breeding ground for extremism. A population deleted of hope. Famine and bloodshed as daily reality.

The expansion of fear. Fear of the ever expanding terror warnings. Fear of loopholes in the domestic security operations. Fear of fear itself.

The economy was top on Obama’s priority list, but the Christmas day Amsterdam-Detroit flight has changed that for now. Sad but true.

You gonna see the explosion of Yemen experts in Washington and across the US networks. Advisors, analysts, historians, experts on the Arabic peninsula, exiled politicians, former Yemeni security officials, ... they will all come out of the woodworks and re-invent themselves (and cash in on the fear of the unknown). Very much déjà-vu. Very much reality. Very much sad. Very much true.

Human behaviour is a merry go round and round.

Down south from Yemen and Somalia. A pretty long distance in fact across the African continent.

In just a few days the South African border control at one crossing between South Africa and Zimbabwe has found 80 fake South African passports. Yes indeed, 80 individual cases of people trying to enter South Africa with a fake passport. And that at only one border post in just 2 or 3 days over the xmas period. Mad.

So how many people are entering and leaving this country at the bottom of Africa with fake passports on an annual basis? A couple of thousands?

Speaking of a security issue. And the soccer world cup will be held there next June and July! And the US team is one of the nations that will be there too. Security issues?! It seems easier to buy a fake South African passport than a ticket to attend one of the world cup games. Mad.

Back north.

Afghanistan is somewhat on the backburner because Yemen is about to get bombed. But the Afghani parliament has rejected the majority of ministerial candidates that was presented to it by the newly elected president Karzai. Well, ‘newly elected’ comes with a grain of salt. Make that a truckload of salt. Rock salt.

Remember Karzai got the crown because his opponent in the 2nd round of voting left the race as he felt that free and fair elections were not possible. Something felt by many if not most if not all observers and even politicians from the NATO alliance. But stuck as NATO and its wider alliance partners were, they decided to just scrap the 2nd round and just swear in Karzai there and then. An attempt to move on quickly to try to give some kind of public relations stunt to the collapsed democratic process in Afghanistan. So parliament in Kabul just wanted to show the weak president it got muscle and want to use it. Another blow to the already dented and bruised image of Karzai.

Meanwhile NATO and its allies are daily in combat with the Taliban. Despite winter. It’s just not looking good in Afghanistan. Stability is a faraway dream. The option that Karzai and his mates and his army and his police force can run the place by themselves and stop the Taliban from coming down the mountains and take over again, seem just a nice thought but nothing more. A thought that is as far from reality as Mars from Uranus.

2010 Has started on an edge. Yemeni terrorism. Afghani chaos. Pakistani suicide bombers.

Some might think it can only improve. They forget that that is just one option. There is also the option that it certainly can get worse, much worse, before it might get better.

Any champagne left over from new year’s eve? Earth needs to swallow some prozac pills.

Throw out. Rock chick Melissa Etheridge is working on a new album. NY underground punkrockers Killing Time will finally release their long awaited new cd. And Elton John claims he helped Eminem with life struggles. I hope that doesn’t lead to a duet.

Meanwhile The Bouncing Souls have released “Ghosts on the boardwalk”. It combines their 4 ep’s the band released throughout 2009 to celebrate their 20th anniversary. A great album with some very fine punkrock anthems.

C-Ya

collateral – January 2010 is here