Al-Qaeda in YemenMohammed al-AmraniAl-Qaeda made a mistake by trying to forge alliances with tribes in Yemen. Such alliances are doomed to be short lived, cannot be maintained and easily compromised by the tribesmen. Tribes in Yemen like tribes all over the Arab world[1] subscribe to traditional Islamic faith and conventional customs and norms although most of them are dubious, spurious and un-Islamic and often a complex mix of superstation, myth, fables and nonsense. Most tribal chieftains[2] in Yemen are pragmatists to the bone and hold their interest above all. The majority of them break their promises and alliances for self-interest, while others buckle under the flare of the sword[3] or the glare of the gold. Al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen ought to realize that the United States, the West and the Yemeni government need not work hard to create sahawat groups in Yemen[4].Bribery combined with threats of air strikes will do the job well and tribal or marital ties with al-Qaeda members will always remain secondary to tribes and subject to compromise. When al-Harithi was killed by a U.S. done in 2006, his brother exclaimed upon seeing his body: He chose his path. This attitude is precisely the attitude of the mainstream in Yemen. The perception of Islam has long been disfigured in the minds of Yemenis for centuries and installing Islamic perceptions back in their minds is an almost losing cause. They also ought to realize that the death of civilians in air strikes or raids will never mobilize the people or actuate them to support al-Qaeda simply because the people in Yemen are too poor[5], too submissive and too frightened and the cruel and despotic regime in Yemen knows that if were to wipe out one third of the population, the rest wont budge.[6]It is also futile to wait for the outcome of the countrys on-going power struggle. Internal power struggle between President Saleh, General Ali Muhsen, and others though tacit, all of them are consciously aware if one fails, the other would follow and all are aware that other tribal sheiks, generals and businessmen are awaiting their downfall. The absence of President Saleh will not make much of a difference either and Yemen will continue to dwell in this abyss for a long time regardless of who might come to power.[7] The United States[8], Europe and the Gulf countries want a strong man to keep Yemen intact and care not about development, fighting corruption, press freedom or human rights despite the outward simulacra.Islams battle with the despots is imposed upon al-Qaeda and they have no choice but to fight it. Tyrants have always repulsed people from religion and caused them to lose faith in spiritual values: oppression is worse than killing. [Quran: 2: 191] However in the case of Yemen, the best discourse al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula could undertake at this phase is to accept talks or move elsewhere. Yemen is a lost cause at this stage and will only waste resources and manpower and Sheik Osama bin Laden[9] and al-Qaedas leaders in Yemen ought to realize that.

[1] The Bedouin are more tenacious in their refusal to acknowledge the truth and more hypocritical. [Quran: 9: 97] Al-Qaeda leaders and operatives in Yemen and elsewhere ought to realize that mankind as a whole and Muslims in particular are not ready for their ideology. Humanity has long transgressed any bounds of return to faith and this material civilization has enslaved minds and souls and produced massive comforts and mankind as a whole wont let go of it easily nor will they forsake those who represent it. They have to understand that Islam has vanished from the face of the earth centuries ago, that rendering man back to His Maker is an almost impossible. That mankind has lost faith and confidence in religion and its usefulness. That this material civilization has produced massive means of comfort making life on earth extremely alluring. The hurdles of faith are too many and mans inborn deposition and longing for His Maker are not enough to render man back into His Maker.[2][2] Tribes, tribesmen and tribal sheiks in Yemen are pragmatic, opportunistic, with elastic and dubious faith. Their Islamic ideologies are fluid and easily compromised. Most sheiks, be them in Marib, Abyan or Shabwa are businessmen, arms dealers or smugglers and would sell their own children to preserve their power, prestige and business. Of all the mistakes and errors al-Qaeda[2] has made in the past, forging alliances with tribes in Yemen will proof to be the most devastating to the network and its future. True a few sheiks do harbor strong Islamic feelings yet their grievances and disgruntlements when closely checked - stem from envy of other sheiks in their areas. Afghan veteran and once al-Qaeda member, Sheik Tariq al-Fadhli has recently appealed to the west to help him against his old comrades of al-Qaeda. This is not peculiar to him. Sheik Abdul-Majid al-Zindani is handcuffed and cannot do much. Invoking a tradition by Prophet Muhammad (S), Sheik Osama bin Laden has often mentioned Yemen either at the outset or at the end of his audio messages appealing to the Yemeni people for help. But it seems the sheik did not know Yemen well. What might have been plausible ten years ago is no longer and Yemenis as a whole have dramatically changed.[3] Yes there are licenses in Islam and those who fear prosecution are entitled to keep to themselves; however since when has a faith ever been built on the shoulders of those who live by the licenses? Islam and secularism are two opposing systems of life. One from Allah (SW) and the other is man-made hence cannot co-exist or live together. One has to prevail and if there is a truce, it would be for a short period. Al-Qaeda is vehemently against any dialogue with the incumbent illegitimate political systems in the world that calls itself Islamic and is consciously aware that such systems are not serious about dialogue as it means to them a bid for a de-radicalization process of al-Qaeda operatives which is nave. If Islam was destined to die, it would have died centuries ago. Today it is threatened and the Judeo-Christian onslaught in cooperation with the political systems in the world that used to be Islamic is working hard deal the last blow to Islam. But it is a delusion.[4] wasnt for the geographical proximity of Yemen to the oil-rich Gulf states and wasnt for the complacency of the Yemeni government in the US-led worldwide war and onslaught on Islam, it is likely the US wouldnt have had any sort of diplomatic ties with Yemen.[5] Poverty in Yemen is the result of many factors. Corruption and concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few are partially responsible. However Arab and Muslim rulers are consciously aware that two factors rotten the human soul: abject poverty and filth wealth. In countries with limited resources, they sought to impoverish their subjects and in nations with abundance, they sought to corrupt them by comfort. Or as the popular Yemeni saying goes: Starve your dog and he shall follow you. By dumb vocation, spoil your dog and he shall keep silent. Yemenis and the Arabs as a whole ought to realize that they are nothing in the scale of humanity and have nothing to offer mankind. They ought to come to grips with the fact that it was Islam that raised them out of the state of lethargy and tribal stagnation to the high marks of world renown and empire and without Islam; theyre nothing but scattered, fragmented and weak pseudo-states. They also ought to cease preaching Islam while it is absent in their midst. Mankind no longer listen to abstract theories and ideologies they dont see adhered to in the shape of a community or society and Islam has practically vanished from the face of the earth more than five centuries ago. It is obvious that the societies that call themselvesI slamic are the worst type of societies on earth today in which injustices of colossal proportions are apparent ranging from oppressing women, and the weak to the cruelest and most brutal tyrants history has ever seen. In so-called Muslim communities, the judicial system is totally corrupt and the majority of people are themselves decadent. Another fact which ought to be borne in mind is that both the population and the ruling classes in Yemen and the Arab and Muslim world are intellectually, scientifically and spiritually defeated before the west and western culture. Their rulers aree mere puppets who worship and fear the west. Though most Yemenis are aware of their precarious state and conscious of the immoral and spiritual decadence of the social, tribal and political figures in the country and though the majority are repugnent to the disgrace and decadence of the elite be them the rulers, tribal sheiks, the opposition leaders, businessmen or the clergy, they cannot make a change. Man does not change if he knows, he only changes when he believes.[6] This phenomenon of sycophancy is not peculiar to Yemen. It is an ever-recurring worldwide phenomenon in the history of man and Muslims at large have been under material, and spiritual slavery for more than four centuries now. Mankind of today is diseased, intoxicated, lost, confused, and suffer from a serious malady of flagrant derision, vulgar mockery, and sarcasm of anything and everything.[7] The rulers of Yemen are suffering from neurosis and some sort of psychosis apparent in their rhetoric and actions. President Saleh has ruled by corruption and patronage and his successor will likely employ the same methodology as it is the most effective to keep more than 20 million people helpless slaves.[8] The west problem is not with extreme or moderate Islam, its problem, as Huntington said in his Clash of Civilizations is with Islam itself.[9] In the course of human history, a few men appeared who stood up against the entire world. Most of them were messengers and prophets as the Quran teachers us. Seldom was there a man who was not a messenger or prophet and endowed with like faith and today this rare phenomenon is repeated in the person of Sheik Osama bin Laden. One man of all men standing against the entire world with a simple message: worship none but your Maker. This message is now ridiculed, mocked, and shrugged off as has always been the case with messengers and prophets. See if you wish: Osama, Obama and the Barbarians, for the writer of this article.