The Providence (R.I.) Journal, April 9:
Yemen is the midst of a civil war. The Shiite Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have ousted the president and taken control of the capital, Sanaa. The Sunni majority, backed by countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Sudan, are attempting to take it back.
Alas, this Arab nation has been a source of consternation for the West for many years.
The population is 99 percent Muslim. Islam is the state religion, and the country is governed by Sharia law. While there are tiny factions of Christians, Jews and Hindus, they have all suffered vicious attacks against their religious freedom.
Yemen’s record on human rights is incredibly poor. Free speech, and the right to a free press, aren’t protected in its constitution. Human trafficking exists, as does child marriage. Homosexual behavior is against the law, and gay people can be punished by death. Women are treated like second-class citizens, or worse.
When it comes to terrorism, the situation is downright deplorable.
The biggest faction is al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. Formed when al-Qaida’s Saudi and Yemeni branches merged in 2009, this violent terrorist wing is situated in Yemen. The United States has attacked it in the past with drone strikes.
Unfortunately, a Yemeni official told CNN in January there is a “real competition” for recruitment between AQAP and the Islamic State. The fact that the expanding ISIS is also growing in Yemen is yet another concern.
Tensions were heightened when ISIS sent suicide bombers to two Yemeni mosques on March 20, killing 137 people and wounding 357 others.
Why did it do this? For two reasons.
First, ISIS flexed its muscle against the Iranian-backed Houthi minority, who are notoriously anti-U.S. and anti-Israel. Second, its members sent a strong message to the Saudi-backed Sunni majority, who tend to side with AQAP, that they’re the new jihadists in town (so to speak).
With political unrest, religious tension, feuding countries and terrorist groups that hate each other, Yemen could soon implode. Since the region’s failed states provide excellent breeding grounds for Islamic terrorism, the West must hope that will not happen.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
