Yemen: The mouse that roared?

Michael Balter 1/08/2010 03:28:00 PM Politics
I don't know about you, but I am so pleased to have this opportunity to learn so much about Yemen in the past days. Here's Christiane Amanpour on my television giving me all the background I need to find Yemen on a map when the U.S. decides to send troops there.

Actually, I doubt this will happen, but one never knows. When the Duchy of Grand Fenwick invaded the United States back in the 1950s, hoping to lose immediately and then receive foreign aid so it could avoid bankruptcy, things didn't work out as planned. You may have seen the documentary, "The Mouse That Roared."

Anyway the Yemeni government must be pleased as punch to be getting so much money and help from the U.S. so that it can pretend to fight al-Qaeda while crushing the various other insurrections now going on and throw dissidents into jail, or worse. Who says the United States doesn't have a big heart?

Why is it so easy for al-Qaeda to recruit terrorists? Glenn Greenwald has some insights about how U.S. Middle East policy helps out.
Michael Balter

Posted by Michael Balter

I have been a working journalist for more than 40 years, beginning in Los Angeles as an investigative reporter and then in Paris as a travel, food, and science writer. For more than 20 years I have covered anthropology and archaeology writer for Science, Audubon, Scientific American, SAPIENS, and other publications. I have also covered sexual misconduct for The Verge, Scientific American, and others; I write about mental health, especially schizophrenia; and I engage in occasional media criticism. I returned to the USA in October 2017 after 30 years in Paris, and now live in the New York City area, where I currently teach journalism at City College of New York (I previously taught journalism at Boston University and New York University.) For more about me and what I do, copies of my articles, information about my book, and other goodies, please visit MY WEB SITE

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2 Comments

Anne Gilbert said…
Like I said, if the US government keeps invading places(and at least for the moment, it looks like the Powers That Be in Washington D.C. have decided, more or less, that invading Yemen would be a Bad Idea), they are sure to produce even more al-Qaidas. And it doesn't look like anybody has the courage to rein the Israeli government in, either.
January 8, 2010 at 7:50 PM
Richard Parker said…
Christiane Amanpour knows about as much about Yemen as you do, and about as much as the US government knows. It's actually quite a large country with about the same population as Saudia (28 million), and much more complex.

There won't be a land war, but there may be a lot of effing around with Special Forces, Predator drones, and the Navy (getting in at last)

There are plenty of Yemenis already stoked up to take revenge (by their very culture) on whatever Americans do , stupidly.
January 13, 2010 at 5:03 AM
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