{"id":178081,"date":"2021-02-01T12:00:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T12:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=178081"},"modified":"2024-09-23T14:39:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T13:39:17","slug":"us-backs-al-qaeda-in-yemen-while-dubbing-its-houthi-enemies-terrorists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/02\/us-backs-al-qaeda-in-yemen-while-dubbing-its-houthi-enemies-terrorists\/","title":{"rendered":"US Backs Al-Qaeda in Yemen while Dubbing Its Houthi Enemies \u2018Terrorists\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US State Department designated Yemen\u2019s Houthi movement \u2014 the most effective force in fighting al-Qaeda \u2014 as a \u201cterrorist\u201d organization. Meanwhile, Washington and Saudi Arabia have supported al-Qaeda.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Militants from Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has been supported by the US and Saudi Arabia in Yemen. AFP<\/p><\/div>\n

12 Jan 2021 – <\/em>The United States government has designated the main enemy of al-Qaeda in Yemen, the Houthi movement, as a terrorist organization, after spending years backing al-Qaeda in the country.<\/p>\n

Like the US-led wars on Syria<\/a>, Libya<\/a>, former Yugoslavia<\/a>, and 1980s Afghanistan<\/a>, Yemen represents an example of an armed conflict where Washington has supported al-Qaeda<\/a> and similar Salafi-jihadist extremists in order to foment regime change and extend its hegemony.<\/p>\n

Since March 2015, the United States has helped oversee a catastrophic war on Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, aiding Saudi Arabia as it launched tens of thousands of air strikes on its southern neighbor, bombing the impoverished nation into rubble \u2014 and unleashing the largest humanitarian crisis on Earth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have died in this US-backed war. Tens of millions of civilians have been pushed to the brink of famine, as a result of intentional US-backed Saudi targeting of food production<\/a>. Yemen\u2019s health infrastructure was ravaged by the Western-sponsored bombing, precipitating the worst cholera outbreak in recorded history<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Throughout the war, al-Qaeda and other Salafi-jihadist groups have metastasized across the south of Yemen. The spread of these dangerous extremists is not a mere coincidence; it is the result of US government policy choices.<\/p>\n

For years, forces in Yemen backed by the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have fought in alliance with al-Qaeda. (And it is not the only ongoing conflict in the Middle East where the terror group has been allied with Washington. Former top Hillary Clinton advisor Jake Sullivan, now Joe Biden\u2019s national security advisor, chirped in a 2012 email, \u201cAQ is on our side in Syria<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n

There is overwhelming evidence exposing this de facto alliance between Washington and al-Qaeda. It has been documented even by mainstream corporate media outlets, from the Associated Press<\/a> to the Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Saudi journalist @ghariba33<\/a> captured video of al-Qaeda fighting alongside the US-backed Saudi-led coalition in Yemenhttps:\/\/t.co\/dchhhhJp36<\/a><\/p>\n

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) April 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n