It has been quite a week. So here's my commentary on some of the stuff that went down:
1- Three gov soldiers were killed and at first it was said that the Southern Movement did it, then it was confirmed that it was the Huthis, then finally- whoever decides who's who- said that it is Al-Qaeda for sure. I have no bloody idea who did it, and it seems like no one actually does.
2- Links have been "found" between the Huthis and Al-Qaeda. Someone told someone who told someone who then told someone, i guess, coz let's face it, how the hell can we really tell anymore; there are factions withinboth groups now, and things are so damn hard to figure out now more than ever. Some people seem to think that there aren't all these groups; just one that really runs the show. interesting..and totally possible.
3- I have been going from one independent local website to the next- not reading the news, but really surverying people's comments; and seriously, that is the scariest shit for me, more scary than the bearded dudes in caves. People really believe in Al-Qaeda's mission, they really believe that they are doing the work of God, and are blessing them and praying for their success. That was scary thing number one.. as for number two, every Yemeni seems to fuckin hate all the other Yemenis. I guess I had been brainwashed by government "unity" propaganda like all the others, and failed to see this divide. Needless to say, the notherners and southerners would very much like to slit each other's throats- but that is not it. There are more divisions: the Hadramout people hate everyone else- they want all their oil revenues back, the South has the religious factions and the leftist factions, all fighting among themselves and with each other; add to that all the northern tribes, who are fighting wars over a well of water now and thinking of the wars for power to follow. It is really crazy. If this country is to ever be stable it wud have to become 6-12 seperate countries or so.
4- All the shit going down in the south is still in the shadows. I check their websites and they claim thousands of mid-night arrests, and tens of deaths either due to air raids or during demonstrations.
5- The Huthi leader who was claimed dead by the government showed up in a nice video that shows he only has a scartch on his knee. Again with the zombies! Oh, and he offered a truce with the Saudis after withdrawing from their land, but said that it is actually Yemeni land that was stolen, so do not question the legitimacy of his offensive or anything, that wud just make him sad.
8- One of the Al-Qaeda leaders in the ME made statements urging the faithful to kill and maim all the "infidenls" and those who work for/with them. This thing was all over the internet and spammed to e-mails. I worry about how many people wold actually answer his call.
7- The US confirmed that they're funding, planning, and sharing intelligence in the latest operation against Al-Qaeda in Yemen. Tell us something we don't know already. What people want to know is whether it's going to change anything.
8- Last but not least, the London wonderfulness, which is basically a bunch of different ppl promising the government a fat sweaty pile of cash to fight the evil terrorists. Of course, there are rules and conditions, etc etc. like the ones from all the previous times of anti-terror funds. People are so upset that the president and his gang are almost getting rewarded for being short-sighted, theiving idiots for the past 34 years. This is where conspiracy theory number two comes: there is no Qaeda, there are no Huthis; there is only opposition and people undercover whose job is to make opposition against a corrupt and oppressive government come across to the world as terrorists, so the government can milk as much money out of the world as possible. What people want is proof: that there is a threat from Al-Qaeda in the country, and that this money will indeed be spent on fighting them, and that actual results can be seen; are all of these donors going to monitor where their money will go?
9- I still hear bombarding almost every night, and checking the news the next morning, there is nothing about anything happening near the capital, so I am not really sure what's going on. Things are calm on the streets, people are not worried at all, and there is a HUUUUUGE "patriotism" campaign; if you ain't go a flag sticking out your car, you're a commie or a Huthi.
