‘Long-Term’ Yemen Commitment Vowed at Two Hour Conference
Clinton Demands Reforms From Yemeni Government
The much vaunted two hour long international summit on Yemen in London came and went today, and ended with little in the way of concrete details, but pledges for “many years” of both military and domestic aid.
The 21 foreign ministers who attended the summit all made pledges aimed at bolstering the government’s fight against al-Qaeda, as well as the two other civil wars in the nation, against the Shi’ites in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Yemen’s problems could not be solved militarily alone, and demanded that the Saleh government “enact reforms and continue to combat corruption” as a way to foster international investment.
Clinton added that “the problems of Yemen affect all of us in a very particular way,” insisting that the nation is “an urgent national-security priority.” US officials have sought increased involvement in Yemen since the failed underbomber attack in Detroit was linked to al-Qaeda in the nation.
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Andy
January 28th, 2010 at 5:35 am
Is there any place on earth that is not an "urgent national-security priority" for America? Maybe Antartica or America's own borders?
Rob Prince
January 29th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
While I have seen references to Yemen being `an urgent national security priority', the argumentation as to why has been missing? As mentioned above by Andy, this becomes a pretext for intervention essentially anywhere. It is probably necessary to make such a dumb statement in order to conform with the 2002 National Security Statement which opens the possibility of US military intervention wolrd wide.