San'a, the capital city of Yemen, was the site of a terrorist attack today. Reports from the scene describe two separate car bombs detonated outside the main gates preceding a prolonged gun battle.
I'll update as details become available, but first a few quick thoughts below the fold and the HuffPo link:
- Yemen is the home of bin Laden's bloodline, and in a place where tribal loyalty often trumps all else, I wouldn't be surprised if this attack was spontaneously organized and carried out by believers in, not members of, al Qaeda's cause - with little no no outside direction, training or assistance. The investigation will (hopefully) shed some light on how 'homegrown' this attack truly was/wasn't.
- Eleven months before September 11th, the USS Cole was savaged by an al Qaeda suicide bombing while fueling up in the Yemeni port of Aden. In addition to laying out a billion-plus dollar warship for the better part of three years, seventeen crewmembers were killed. The plot (and location) were supposed to be part of bin Laden's 'Millenium Plot', targeting the USS The Sullivans instead of the Cole (and coinciding with the Clinton-foiled LAX bombing). One can only imagine how many troops and dollars we would have stationed there if only they sat on some kind of valuable resource.
It seems clear to a novice like me that there are more people ready and willing to kill Americans in Yemen than there were in Iraq when we invaded in 2003. Hell, the numbers are probably different now, but then again, had we invaded San'a (or any one of a list of about twenty other capitals) we'd have the exact same toxic mix of homegrown insurgency and immigrating professionals that we have today in Baghdad.
Use this (and, you know, all that OTHER available information) to knock down the false, pervasive and insulting Republican security myth.
Update: It's now being reported that Islamic Jihad has claimed responsiblity for the attacks, and will also target British, Saudi and Emirati embassies in the future. I wonder what the United Arab Emirates, which is really no more corrupt and cozy with the West than any other Arab government, did to merit special mention on this list. Probably all those big ol' Goddamn buildings.