President Barack Obama's decision to boost U.S. aid to Yemen to help the small Arabian Peninsula country fight al Qaida risks tying the U.S. more closely to an autocratic ruler whose repression of economic and political grievances is strengthening the terrorists and pushing his impoverished nation toward breakup.
"Any association with the (Yemeni) regime will only confirm al Qaida's narrative, which is that America is only interested in maintaining corrupt and despotic rulers and is not interested in the fate of Arabs and Muslims," warned Bernard Haykel , a Princeton University professor.
So is the president unable to leverage his so-called appeal to the Islamic world to defend our necessary fight against al Qaeda in Yemen?
Or are large segments of the Islamic world so whacked out and sympathetic to the cause of jihad that no American president--even President Obama--can make them trust our judgment about what we need to do in Yemen to defend ourselves from jihadi nutjobs?
I eagerly await the outcome of this debate.
