What the hell are we refueling in Yemen for anyway????

[Spook]

Didn't they see 'Rules of engagement'???

Link to Article



<< Over the past two years in Yemen, he said, young British militant Muslims and local Yemeni Muslims have been training in terrorist camps. ``Next to Sudan and Iran,'' he said, ``Yemen has one of the highest concentrations of terrorist camps in the world.'' >>



Can you say... Just shoot me...

 

[AndrewR]

It has one of the best deep water ports in that part of the world.

 

[Spook]

So, if they sunk the ship, we would have a hell of a time getting it back...

 

[Wangel]

There were many other safer ports to refuel.

 

[ltk007]

The US government did it as a way to help stimulate the Yemen econonmy I think...

 

[Batti]

There are only two other usable ports in that region, and both of them are unstable.

 

[DABANSHEE]

It a silly place to do it, unless you have to, there have been rebellions, revolutions, border wars, tribal wars, civil wars (not just between Sth &amp; Nth Yeman, but also between the coast &amp; the inland parts of Sth Yeman), plus wars between Sth Yeman &amp; Nth Yeman over there, oh &amp; wars of reunification too. Also twice Egypt &amp; Saudi Arabia have fought undeclared wars over the place. The Brits even fought an undeclared war there in Sth Yeman in the mid 60's (complete with SAS troops in pink jeeps) Plus they even had a 'Peoples Democratic Republic' going for a while over there too.

The biggest growth industry seems to be kidnapping &amp; chewing Kat. Which everyone dose including 8 year old kids that just sit arround the streets &amp; in there house's smoking hashish &amp; chewing Kat (leaves of a local plant that reportedly have narcotic properties). I saw a .documentary on the place recently, the one thing going for it are scenic hilltowns, if you like that sort of thing.

Aden, because of its strategic location on the entrance to the Red Sea &amp; its good natural harbour has always been on everyones wanted list (the Brits only gave it up arround 1970) that's probably why the Egyptians &amp; Saudis had a bit of an undeclared war going on in the mid 70's, there.

Basically everone &amp; his dog in Yeman has a Kalashnikov stashed somewhere &amp; there are old arms dumps galore there too. I also just read on MSNBC that the Pentagon has Yeman classed as a 'danger money' place, so when that ship pulled in those sailors would have got an extra so many dollars or cents in 'danger money' allowance while that were there, not that it would help any now.

 

[AndrewR]

<< So, if they sunk the ship, we would have a hell of a time getting it back... >>



I was wondering what we would do if the Cole had sunk, which it apparently was in danger of after that 40 foot hole opened up. I'm not sure if they would salvage stuff or blow it up. Probably both.

The need for a deep water port is because the draft on those big ships prevents them from using most ports. Aircraft carriers don't have to worry about it for fuel, but the gas turbine powered destroyers, cruisers, and frigates need a port like that as do the big tenders that resupply all of them. I am not sure what the other usable ports are, but I'm guessing one is in Somalia because I seem to remember that being one of the best ports in the region, geographically speaking. Obviously, we cannot go there. No idea what the other is that DABANSHEE refers to.

Another reason was probably power projection since it seems the Yemen government has been attempting to clean up its image a little bit (they are aiding the investigation rather well, from news accounts), and the US probably agreed to help scare the locals by showing off the big ships. That worked, didn't it? It appears that the bombers were in fact Saudi though.



<< The biggest growth industry seems to be kidnapping &amp; chewing Kat. >>


Sounds a lot like Somalia. Let's hope Clinton doesn't decide to send troops in there without armor support (or at all, actually -- yes, I know it was Bush that first sent them, but Clinton is one who refused M1 tanks and Bradleys when it was requested by the local commander which is what led to the Rangers and Delta Force guys being squished).

One fascinating thing I read today was that they are going to transport the Cole on a heavy lift ship, which is basically a floating dry dock. It can handle ships with a displacement of 30,000 tons. OMFG -- that's amazing.

 

[DABANSHEE]

Andrew, I assumed it was Aden that is the Yemani port where the Cole was moored for refueling, it is there main port. The name the British had for Sth Yeman was the 'Aden Protectorate' so the British werent hiding the fact they were manily interested in the port. The MSNBC website says that the Singapore Port Authority has the Steavadore contract for the Port, so it must be a decent size. I don't think I mentioned any other port, my haphazard writing style probably confused you.

The documentary I saw show that everyone is constantly chewing, the filmaker at 1st thought that chewing gum must be popular then found out they were all chewing leaves.

 

[AndrewR]

Frankly, I'm not sure what I was talking about either, in rereading your post. I thought you said there were two other ports that were candidates for deep water refueling. My mind is playing tricks on me. It is Aden where they were refueling.

Literally the same thing is/was happening in Somalia when the US went in with those leaves. All of the locals were chewing them and touting weapons around. When the US special forces moved in to arrest that general's top aides, they went in around the time when most men were high and ready for a fight. The US troops ended up killing hundreds if not thousands of the bastards but sustained about 18 KIA and quite a few WIA in the action. Sounds anything happening in Yemen would be the equivalent. Read Blackhawk Down for an amazing account of that battle in Mogadishu. The US troops did an incredible job.

 

[lowtech1]

The US was trying to be on good term with Yemen gov, so the US could have more of an affluence on Yemen politic structure. By doing so the US could squel the terorists that are residing in Yemen, but unfortunately the Cole bombing is going to slow/stop this process. Irael totally against the US supportive of Yemen, because the strengthen relationship with Yemen &amp; the control over terorists will let the US to cut its tie with Irael &amp; stop the draining supports on the US economy.

...Can't remember where I read the artical, but I belive it was the UK &amp; Iraelis publication.

 

[AndrewR]

Ah, now I see it -- it was Batti, not DABANSHEE that mentioned two other ports in the region.

Anyway, the concept that the US would suddenly abandon Israel after all these years (and with a sizeable Jewish population that is not poor overall) is rather silly. It'll never happen, at least not in the next 50 years minimum. I think the bombing will slow the process, but since the Yemen government seems eager to help and the bombers were not from Yemen from preliminary reports, I don't think the process will be halted. The US has much to gain if they can evict the terrorists from Yemen, as does Israel frankly. It's one less base of operations for terrorists, and they'll have to head back to Libya, Syria and Afghanistan.