http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.8668/pub_detail.asp
February 10, 2011 Don't Forget About Yemen: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula may be bin Laden's most dangerous faction <http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/authors/id.25/author_detail.asp> Peter Brookes http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/imgLib/20110209_Yemenmap1.jpg In the wake of the ongoing political turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East, which has toppled or shaken governments across the region from Tunisia and Egypt to Jordan and Syria, it would be a big mistake to overlook the rumblings in the lesser known country of Yemen. Why? Some experts believe Yemen may actually be the location of the most active and dangerous element of al Qaeda in existence today: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). As such, this means that easily overlooked Yemen is possibly the source of the greatest day-to-day terror threat to the American homeland. While no one wants to downplay the threat emanating from al Qaeda's "core," many of whom are currently holed up in Pakistani tribal areas (e.g., Osama bin Laden), Yemen's AQAP arguably ranks second to none. In fact, in just the last 18 months, AQAP has played an operational -- or inspirational -- role in at least three terror plots or attacks against the United States, including: . The 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, which killed 13 and injured 29; . The 2009 Christmas Day attempted bombing of an airliner over Detroit; and, . The 2010 plot to send bombs disguised as ink cartridges to the United States on air shippers. Indeed, recent tremors of political dissent in the region may be just what al Qaeda has been hoping for: The overthrow of the many Middle Eastern and North African capitals that oppose the terror group and it claims are occupied by apostate regimes, including Sanaa. Unfortunately, if the region's political chaos reaches Yemen in a destabilizing way, the fall of the Yemeni government into the wrong hands is a possibility. Such a dramatic change may not only strengthen the hand of AQAP in the region by making it easier for the terrorist group to plan, train and operate there, but put the United States in even greater danger as well. <http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/> FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor <http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/authors/id.25/author_detail.asp> Peter Brookes is Senior Fellow, National Security Affairs and Chung Ju-Yung Fellow for Policy Studies in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
