-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.stratfor.com/MEAF/commentary/0010130120.htm Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.stratfor.com/MEAF/commentary/0010130120.htm"> Yemen�s Deadly Appeal</A> ----- Send this page to your friend Yemen�s Deadly Appeal 0120 GMT, 001013 The suspected suicide bombing of a U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Cole, in a Yemeni port early Thursday ignited numerous questions on the perpetrators of the attack and their motives and means. But pull back to a global view and a much more strategic question surfaces: What is the United States doing in Yemen? The Navy only recently began using Aden Port as a refueling station, but Yemen is much more than a regional point of convenience. Indeed, America�s interest and involvement in Yemen appear to run much deeper than merely refueling military vessels. Yemen is a strategic pawn in a game with other major powers. And a small island 550 miles east of Yemen is a valuable military asset. Isolated, torn by tribalism and desperately poor � Yemen is one of the poorest nations in the Middle East. But these facts obscure an important reality: Yemen is the center of a vigorous competition between some of the world�s major powers. Nations such as China, Russia and the United States are all competing for influence over the chokepoints of the world�s waterways. Aden is one these and one of the most important. Its port is one of the deepest natural ports in the world, capable of serving large vessels with comparatively little improvement. In recent months, both Russian and American military officials have jockeyed for position in Aden. Russian officials, for example, have raised military cooperation with the Yemeni government. U.S. Navy SEALs have also helped clear the wreckage of sunken vessels from the port at Aden. Why has so much global attention focused on this tiny country? More than its harbor, Yemen also provides an important military base from which naval forces can quickly reach the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. The island of Socotra, with a population of 70,000, is perfectly placed for monitoring shipping routes in all three seas. The U.S. Navy is supposed to ensure the flow of goods to and from the United States via shipping routes. Competition for major trade routes is stiff and Washington has recently lost key points of control to countries like China; in the Suez Canal, for instance, a Chinese company with ties to the People�s Liberation Army (PLA) has won important rights to facilities there. Near Socotra, much of the world�s oil floats by on tankers. There is evidence as well to suggest that island, belonging to Yemen, is a potentially invaluable source for intelligence collection in the Indian Ocean, a basin with increased naval activity. The Indian navy, for example, has reportedly focused on expanding its capabilities and modernizing its technology. Socotra could be a valuable source of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT). In March 1999, the Village Voice reported Socotra as a site upon which the United States planned to build a SIGINT system. Over the past two years, reports have surfaced every few months in Yemeni opposition media claiming that Yemen�s administration had agreed to allow the U.S. military access to both a port and an airport on Socotra. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has consistently denied a deal with the U.S. military and his government has punished journalists who persist in reporting it. The last instance of this to make it to the Western press occurred nearly one year ago, in October 1999, when the owner of the opposition daily Al-Haq was fined and the paper was banned for a month. The administration charged the paper with publishing material that threatened national security. The previous March, the same paper met similar consequences for running a story saying a new civilian airport built on Socotra to promote tourism had conveniently been constructed in accordance with U.S. military specifications. The paper has ties to an umbrella group of Islamist politicians and activists, including the Islah Party. And there is clearly a backlash in Yemen against the global competition for use of its facilities. The attack on USS Cole was a simple, yet effective message: the ambitious goals of the U.S. military are not welcome. MEAF Intelligence Center MEAF Global Intelligence Update Archives Country Information About Stratfor | Contact Us | Subscribe to the GIU | Site Map | Search Home | Global | Asia | Europe | Latin America | Middle East | Russia & CIS Hotspots | Global Intelligence Update Webmaster � 2000 Stratfor, Inc. 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