Yemen 2002

Yemen in 2002 was a sovereign state with Ali Abdullah Saleh as its President. It was located in the Middle East and the population of Yemen at that time was approximately 18 million people and its official language was Arabic. The country had a republican system of government with an elected president as its head since 1978. The economy of Yemen relied mostly on oil exports, but it also had a large agricultural sector. Education was free for all citizens up to secondary school level and the literacy rate was estimated to be around 70%. Healthcare services were provided by the government at no cost for all citizens but many suffered from diseases such as malaria due to poor sanitation practices and lack of access to clean water sources. In 2002, Yemen had made some progress in terms of economic development but still had high levels of poverty compared to other countries in the Middle East. According to computerannals, the country also had a very open foreign policy, which saw it joining many international organizations such as the Arab League and United Nations, while maintaining strong relations with both Western and non-Western countries.

Yearbook 2002

Yemen. According to Countryaah website, national day of Yemen is every November 30. US Vice President Dick Cheney visited the country in March. The United States received promises of cooperation in the hunt for the al-Qaeda terror network, which was considered to have a foothold in Yemen. The discovery of 15 Scud missiles from North Korea on a ship outside Yemen caused a minor crisis in December. The United States handed over the weapons following a protest by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Human rights organizations reported that hundreds of suspects were arrested during the year. In February alone, about 100 foreigners were expelled.

Six suspected al-Qaeda members were killed in early November by an American robot. The outside world criticized the US for the incident.

A crewman was killed in October when a French tanker was hit by a smaller ship loaded with explosives outside Yemen. The same method was used against a US warship in 2000. The deed is attributed to al-Qaeda or its supporters.

In December 2017, Saudi Arabia won a significant political victory as the rogue state succeeded in luring Yemen’s ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh to his side. Saleh had been an ally with the Houthi people since May 2015. However, the Saudi victory was short-lived. A few days after the resignation of the deposed president, the Houthis raided his residence in Sanaa and subsequently killed him.

In a single day in late December, Saudi planes killed 68 civilians during their terrorist bombings. In a plane attack on a tightly packed market in Taez province, 54 were killed and 32 injured. In another attack in Hodeidah province, 14 members of the same family were killed. The killings were strongly condemned by UN humanitarian coordinators in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick. (Saudi-led airstrikes kill 68 civilians in one day of Yemen’s ‘absurd’ war, Guardian 28/12 2017)

Saudi Arabia has long since run out of bombing targets in Yemen. In August 2018, instead, it bombs a bus with children at the Dahyan market in northern Yemen. 29 children under 15 are currently killed and 11 die in the following days. 79 wounded. Saudi Arabia calls it a “legitimate military operation.” The US State Department does not think there is anything to be taken away from, but calls on the war alliance to investigate the “incident”. The reaction might have been different if it had been a bus with Israeli school children. A few days later, it was reported that the bomb was a laser-guided “precision bomb” produced by US arms company Lockheed Martin. US provided for $ 115 billion US $ weapons to Saudi Arabia for the last 2 years of Obama’s reign. In 2017, Trump picked up additional weapons orders for $ 300 billion US $ home. Three weeks after the war, Saudi Arabia admitted that there had been a mistake. (Dozens dead in Yemen as bus carrying children hit by airstrike, Guardian 9/8 2018; US supplied bomb that killed 40 children on Yemen school bus, Guardian 19/8 2018; Saudis admit Yemen strike on bus carrying children unjustified, Guardian 2/9 2018)

Saudi Arabia was brought into the defensive globally in October after it became known that the dictatorship had murdered a system-critical journalist and parties in its consulate in Istanbul. After a few weeks, the regime sought to divert attention by escalating the war against Yemen. The war effort was concentrated on the port city of Hodeidah, the last city where emergency relief could be brought inland. The relief organizations found that decades of the biggest famine disaster, which has thrown $ 14-18 million. Yeminites out in the famine were man-made – by the regime of the United States, Britain, Denmark and many more supplying weapons.

Yemen Border Countries Map

Islamic growth

Weak central power and high tensions have contributed to the radicalization of radical Islamist groups in Yemen; above all, a local part of the al-Qaeda terror network: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Several well-known members of al-Qaeda come from these two countries, including Osama bin Laden.

Yemen has long been used as a base for terrorist actions. A radical group, the Islamic Army of Aden-Abyan, was active towards the end of the 1990s. Several members had backgrounds from mujahedin in Afghanistan; many of them then joined al-Qaeda. It is estimated that about 4,000 Yemenis participated in jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and that many more with experience there sought refuge in Yemen. Around 90 of the prisoners in the Guantanamo base in Cuba, more than from any other country, came from Yemen.

The US feared that Yemen would develop into a base for international terror. The fear was partly confirmed in 2000 when the US Navy vessel USS Cole was attacked during a stay in Aden, and in 2002 when the French tanker Limburg was hit by an attack. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Yemen and the United States began cooperation in 2002 in the fight against terrorism. As part of this, US special forces have trained Yemenite counterterrorism and security forces.

The 2015 war has allowed the Islamic State (IS) to strengthen its foothold in Yemen, partly at the expense of AQAP. IS has also carried out several actions in Yemen.