Is Obama Encouraging Saleh to Stay in Power?

It sure is starting to look that way! This past Friday it looked as if President Saleh of Yemen was ready to call it quits with-in a matter of hours. But then Saturday rumours of an impending attack by Al-Qaeda surfaced. The attack was supposed to come from Yemen. That announcement immediately got me suspicious. Was our government giving Saleh moral support when Defense Secretary Gates stated that "it would be a real problem" if Saleh was not around anymore to fight Al-Qaeda. That was this Saturday. And now today Saleh has announced that he will stay in power till 2013, and maybe even longer if necessary. Why the change of heart with Saleh? Could it really be that Obama and company are trying to persuade their old terrorist friend Saleh to stick out? And yes he is a terrorist in my book, and the majority of people who know anything about him too. And who to believe about the impending Al-Qaeda attack? Saleh has made a habit of using Al-Qaeda to attack his political enemies, and other tribes that had attempted to rebel against his regime. Our own government is aware of Saleh's use of Al-Qaeda for his own gain. So could Saleh be drumming up an Al-Qaeda attack to garner support from his friend Obama to help him stay in office? Its a no brainer that both Obama and Saleh both would benefit from Saleh staying in power. But then you have those pesky Yemeni people who despise Saleh and want him and all of his family gone, like yesterday. Even Saleh's ex-old friend, and the second number two military man in Yemen thinks Saleh is using his old Al-Qaeda friends again. This general has promised to fight for the protesters, along with his army. Others say that Saleh cannot get the necessary guarantees for him, his immediate family, and extended family that would ensure that they are not prosecuted (and sent to prison where they belong) after they all resign form their governmental positions. I wonder if our own government will make sure that Saleh does not make off with our tax money? I am currently writing a letter to our senator to request that Obama does not give Saleh any guarantees either. What is for sure is that Obama has a ton of money riding on Saleh. From what I have read the CIA has established a new department in the Counter terrorism Center to deal with Saleh's Al-Qaeda in Yemen, and al-Shabab in Somalia as well. The CIA's station is in Sana'a,Yemen. The station has grown from a few dozen people to several times larger. That's not counting all the American Military advisers who are training Saleh's republican Guard, and the Saleh's counter terrorism units. I just read three different reports where some of those specially trained units have thrown down their guns when attacked by Al-Qaeda just recently and deserted. Plus the millions of dollars flowing into Saleh's coffers from America. I really hope that Obama is not trying to keep this brutal murderer in power. Our leaders knew back in 2000 after the Cole attack what kind of man Saleh was and is. Especially after 9/11. But they chose to gamble on him anyway, that he could continue to keep his people oppressed, and maybe be of some use against Al-Qaeda. But then Obama comes along, and could have changed the course of our relationship with Saleh. But he did not. On the contrary, he pumped even more money and goodies into Saleh's decaying regime. And not once have I read where Obama has sent the FBI to request that Saleh extradite our son's killers, or even ask their whereabouts. Nothing at all. But then again Obama and Company have probably finally realized that Saleh has taken them for one big expensive ride. And are hoping that maybe since Saleh is in real trouble this time that he may actually do what they want him to do this time around. And maybe not all will be lost. Its still my hope that Saleh will listen to reason, and resign. That a major civil war does not have to happen. Saleh is gone sooner, or later. The Obama administration needs to accept that, and move on. There is no going back now. They had best start to figure out ways that they can get in good with the new leaders while the "getting is good". Or they may find themselves sitting outside with Saleh and looking in at the New Yemen, for better or worse.

Will Saleh Give Up?

Things have only gotten worse for Saleh in the past 24 hours. As far as I can tell he still has the support of the Air Force, his Republican Guard, and some units of the Army. But it now appears that he has been backed into a corner with his remaining supporters. The Obama Administration is still backing him of course.


Maybe Obama and Saleh are hoping that the Saudis will come to Saleh's rescue. In better times they probably would have just to keep one of their borders secured. But now the Saudis have problems of their own. The same problems that have brought Saleh to where he currently is. I doubt that they would like to add more of those problems to their list.


That leaves Obama to save his old friend Saleh. But Obama has got Gaddafi to worry about now, and two other wars to keep him busy. All Saleh has to do is look at which end of the stick Gaddafi got in dealing with Obama. For years the American Government was willing to overlook the Americans that Gaddafi had murdered. Especially after Bush had Gaddafi removed from the list of countries that supported terrorism. Bush went so far as to sign a Bill saying that no-one else could sue Libya or Gaddafi for the murder of their loved ones. And that Gaddafi's Libya was welcomed back into the world of civilized countries. In no time companies where in Libya drilling for oil. And everyone was happy! Except for all of Gaddafis victims, and their families. But when it comes to small groups of victims murdered by terrorists our own government has an extremely short memory.


Unless our politicians see an opportunity to cover up their own bad actions like they did with Gadaffi last month. When Obama saw that Gaddafi was likely to be overthrown, all of Gaddafi's previous terrorists attacks were suddenly remembered again! Then our politicians conveniently remembered all of the murdered American victims that Gaddafi had killed. I am glad for the families of those victims that our government is finally taking action against Gaddafi. Its just ashamed that our politicians and presidents have to wait till they are sure that there will be no political fallout for themselves to go after a terrorists who has murdered Americans.


Will Obama and our politicans began to get their memories back when Saleh has been overthrown? Will they remember how Saleh compromised the USS Cole investigation which was tied to 9/11, how he freed all the bombers, how some of the bombers were not even tried, how his courts allowed Jihad against our soldiers in Iraq, how know Al-Qaeda members lived freely in Yemen, and how he refused to turn over to American custody any of the Cole bombers. I seriously doubt that they will take any action against Saleh. The less said about the USS Cole, and 9/11 the better for them.


So where will an the old dictator/terrorist Saleh go to retire and to live out his golden years? Some country will give him a safe place for the right price I guess. God knows he has more than enough American money to continue to live like a King. But he had better decide real soon, or someone else will be making that decision for him. And it might be decision that Saleh can't live with. Literally.

Obama Ignores Pleas from the Yemeni Youth Council Who Are Protesting Saleh

Today Defense Secretary Gates, and Clinton refused to admit that the gig is up for Saleh in Yemen. On the contrary Gates stressed the good relationship between the Obama administration and Saleh!


He also said that the "outcome in Yemen" is to early to predict. Too early? Where in the hell are they getting there information? Anyone with a half a friking brain has know for 10 years now that it was only a matter of time till the Yemeni people revolted against Saleh. And now one of Saleh's top Generals in command of the 1st Armoured Division has defected to the protesters with his troops, and tanks. Other commanders have followed suit. One of those commanders being from Saleh's on clan.


On Tuesday Saleh's Republican Guard, and rebel troops engaged each other. Saleh's son commands the units protecting Saleh's palace. Also, one of the most powerful religious leaders Sheikh Zindani, defected to the protesters a couple of weeks ago. Zindani runs the al-Iman University in Yemen where he preaches hate and violence against westerners. Some of the Cole bombers attended his so-called university. He has been wanted by the U.S. and the UN for years now for working with Al-Qaeda. But our own government has never really pressed Saleh for his arrest. No surprise there! But in short that means that Saleh has even lost the support of his old Al-Qaeda friends. So things are not looking good for old Saleh, and his family. Many of his long time cronies have already deserted him as well. The smart politicians are switching sides before the heads begin to roll.


Saleh must be hedging his bets that Obama will not let him down, and maybe even come to his rescue. I find that unlikely, but who knows with the Obama administration. At the present time Obama is not yet ready to throw him under the bus. But that could soon change too. Saleh can read Obama's verbal support for him in only one way. That he is doing the right thing by attacking the protesters and trying to maintain the status quo.


Click on the title to read the letter sent to Obama from the Youth Council for his help, and understanding. They actually mention the attack on the USS Cole. There are two topics that our government does not want to talk about, Saleh and the USS Cole. They have spent the past 10 years trying to ignore anything at all to do with the Cole attack, and Saleh! The Youth Council are trying to tell Obama what the world already knows, that Saleh has used Al-Qaeda to make himself rich and to stay in power. And that Saleh has used Al-Qaeda to murder his own people when he deems it necessary. Unfortunately Obama and company already know all of this, just like Clinton, and Bush did. But years ago after the attack on the USS Cole, our government made a pact with one of the Devils emissary's, President Saleh. The pact was that our government would overlook the murder of 17 American sailors, and 39 more wounded. And that our government would overlook Saleh letting all the murderers go. And that Saleh could even still do business with Al-Qaeda on a limited basis. That Saleh could brutalize his people, and would have only limited and half hearted objections from our government. And get boatloads of money to spend as he saw fit.

And now 10 years later even with Saleh staring at his own immediate forced departure and or death, our government feels compelled to follow through on that sick and twisted promise. Even when innocent Yemenis are being butchered in the streets everyday now. I personally think the the Yemenis deserve more of a response from Obama than, "we have a good relationship with Saleh."


We were glad to see the Yemeni Youth Council include the USS Cole in their letter to Obama. Its our hope that the Yemeni Youth, and all Yemenis will soon see the end of Saleh.

Saleh Murders More Protesters While Obama Looks the Other Way

If Obama is going to switch sides in the war between President Saleh of Yemen, and the Yemeni people, he had better do it quick! But so far Obama has kept his money on his main man Saleh, and his military and police forces.

Reports out of Yemen are confirming that Friday was the bloodiest day yet in the peoples revolt to date. Saleh's goons killed at least 46 protesters with sniper rifles. Rifles and ammo paid for with American dollars. That's how the world press is writing it in their reports too. Bad, and I mean real bad press for Obama.

The good news is that the protesters have gained control of Dar Saad, a city with over 150,000 people in it. And is seen as the gateway to the key port of Aden. The big question is can the protesters hold the city. If the majority of Yemenis stick to their guns, I think they can. Saleh and family are despised in Yemen by most Yemenis. Many Yemenis have been victims of Saleh's brutal regime in one way or another. In the past month more and more prominent Yemenis have seen the writing on the wall, and switched sides. Today a group of Yemeni business men announced that they are backing the protesters now. They can see like many others that its only a matter of time now to Saleh has to bug out with his family and money. And or a long and bloody civil war.

Saleh in another futile attempt to stop the news of his brutality from getting out of Yemen has been kicking the foreign press out of Yemen. Monday it was two Americans, and two Brits. Today it was two Al-Jazeera reporters.

But so far Obama and Company are still Saleh's most loyal supporters, and must still be hoping that Saleh and his goons can force the Yemeni people back into thier shackles, and chains. And then Saleh can return back to his half hearted attempts at capturing Al-Qaeda members, while more terrorists continue to escape from his prisons. But more importantly he can keep skimming off the top of all that money that we have been giving him over the last 1o years. But I for one have serious doubts that the love/hate relationship that has been conducted by three American presidents with Saleh will ever return back to the good old days. The days when most Americans had not even heard of Yemen and Saleh. The dirty little secret is now out about our "trusted ally Saleh", and the whole world is now seeing Saleh for what he really is. A ruthless dictator who has used Al-Qaeda to keep himself in power., and who has obtained a ton of money from America to supposedly rid Yemen of Al-Qaeda. But instead Al-Qaeda has only prospered in Yemen over the past 1o years though, just as Saleh and family have prospered financially. And I suspect even more of Saleh's little know secrets will become public knowledge when Obama finally realizes that he has to throw Saleh under the Bus along with Mubarak, and Gaddafi. But hey! That's just part of the game of politics. A politician does what he has to do to save his own skin when the cat gets out of the bag!

Very little news has been mentioned here in America about the "Saleh situation". Even though Saleh is on the same level as Gadaffi, and I would argue even worse when it comes to terrorism. Saleh has managed to control three American Presidents from his little backwater country. All three of those presidents have gone to great lengths to minimize Saleh's connections, use of and support of Al-Qaeda in any detail. And they don't ever talk about how he has treated his own people. At least not before the 'revolution fever" hit the Middle East.

And all three American Presidents have always overlooked Saleh's brutal treatment of his own people. I think its going to be even more interesting after Saleh has been disposed. Or maybe some in his regime will begin to switch sides and start to spill even more "secrets". Just like we are seeing with Gadaffi.

Either way, Obama is running out of time to switch sides. And I think the Yemeni people will remember how he chose Saleh over them. But right about now Obama is holding his breath and just hoping that Saleh will crush the revolution, like he has so many times before. And Obama and Saleh can return back to "politics as usual" and with out all those troublesome freedom fighters demanding a Democracy in Yemen.

Obama Still Backing the Dictator Saleh in Oppressing His People

John Brennan, Obama's chief anti-terrorism advisor has called on the Yemeni opposition to hold more talks with President Saleh. President Obama and his advisors just don't get it. The Yemeni people have been listening to the lies, and broken promises of Saleh for over 30 years now. As Saleh, his family, and his cronies have all grown rich off the resources of Yemen, and monies from countries like the good old USA. The Yemeni people have realized something our own government has failed to comprehend: that doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results, is insane. The Joint Meeting Parties, the opposition in Yemen immediately rejected Obama's calls for more talks with Saleh, and his corrupt government. Good for them!!


I was encouraged to read where the Yemeni opposition realizes that Obama will in all probability not switch sides until it appears that Saleh really has no chance at surviving. At least they know where they stand. And it appears that they are willing to go all the way to rid themselves of Saleh and Company. Even if that means a bloody and long Civil War.


But at the same time its extremely discouraging that Obama does not take this opportunity to switch sides and be on the right side of history for a change. And maybe save an untold amount of lives if a Civil War could be avoided. Plus the Yemeni's might actually see us in a positive light, instead of "the Americans who backed the brutal dictator, and provided the training,and ammunition to Saleh's soldiers who are killing their friends and family members."


Why Obama cannot see that Saleh is doomed is beyond me. With each passing day it becomes more and more obvious that Saleh's hold on the country is extremely precarious. For years Saleh kept the various factions and tribes in Yemen at each others throats, and even used Al-Qaeda when it suited his goals. But now all those factions, and tribes are uniting with one objective to pursue, the ouster of Saleh. The old "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" technique. And Saleh and his family have a lot of enemies!


It pains me to no end to say this but if Obama were to throw Saleh under the Bus like he did with Mubarak, and Gaddafi, it would not be long until Saleh bugged out of Yemen. He would take his millions of dollars and find a country to accept him, and live out his miserable life as a King in exile. Who knows maybe he could get a good deal on a mansion in Obama's neighborhood. Or their may even be a nice size ranch for sale outside of Crawford, Texas. But at least the brutal dictator would be gone, and the Yemeni people could begin to build a real democracy.


Three American Presidents have done everything in their power to keep Saleh propped up in his rotten regime. All three of them making every excuse they could for his support of Al-Qaeda, his blatant lies, and his brutal treatment of his own people. But it now looks like even President Obama will not be able to save Saleh from himself, and justice that is long overdue.

The Military Tribunals Are Back On! For Now.

This afternoon we had a phone conference with the White House. As usual we were given a very short notice. About one hour. It appears that after a two year delay that President Obama has decided to go forward with the Military Commissions at Gitmo. Wow! Was I supposed to be impressed with this decision? I was not. It took Obama and his people two years to figure out what the Bush administration and the majority of Americans had already know for years, that Gitmo was and is the only appropriate place to not only keep the terrorists, but to have them tried there as well.

So in short it does appear that Al-Nashiri will be tried at Gitmo in a Military Tribunal. At least for now that is! I asked as to why Walid bin Attash would not be tried for the Cole attack but for the 9/11 attack instead. As usual they, the government people had no answer for that. No surprise there. We have been fighting for years to get answers on the status of the other Cole bombers. But either no one in our government knows where they are, imprisoned, dead, and or active with Al-Qaeda. Or they just don't care. Again, No surprise there either.

From what I have read and heard this two year delay in the Tribunals served only one major purpose, to give the terrorists more rights and protection under the Military Tribunals. I had to laugh when the officer on the phone stated that Obama was committed to "swift justice and the closing of Gitmo". I guess that 10 years, four months, and 24 days is considered swift to Obama and crew. And that is just the announcement that the trials will re-commence! And "the closing of Gitmo"? Obama must have thrown that bone in there for his liberal base, just to let them know that he has not forgotten his promise to them. Politics as usual.

I cannot, and will not speak for the other 16 Cole Families. But my wife and I are disgusted with Obama and his continued "game playing" with the murderers of our son. Don't get me wrong, we had more than one bone to pick with Bush in how he mishandled many aspects of the ongoing Cole Tragedy. But at least he went after the terrorists with everything he had on the battlefield, and in the courtroom. He kept trying to get the terrorist tried at Gitmo, but the liberals kept taking him to court to stop and or slow the process of the tribunals. And in many cases they were successful. But the Tribunals could and did work. And Bush stuck to his guns.

But with Obama its always about the terrorists, and what his liberal base will think.

Our son swore an oath to this country, and he kept that oath. And He paid for that oath with his life. That was over 10 years ago. And justice for most of the bombers has still not happened. Not because of our military, and or security agencies, but because of our president and his supporters. I think Obama should focus more on his oath to our fallen military members than to the terrorists, and their liberal supporters here in America, and elsewhere in the world.

And now President Saleh of Yemen may very well be enjoying his last days, or months in power.
And when his corrupt and wicked regime falls, and it will fall. It will be any ones guess what he starts to reveal about the Nation(America) that has helped to keep him in power for so long, against the wishes of his own people. While overlooking his blocking the FBI investigation into the Cole attack, setting the Cole bombers free, refusing to have at least one of them to stand trial for the attack, refusing to extradite the two he had in custody, and the list is endless how our government chose to side with Saleh, and to ignore the murdered of 17 sailors, and 39 more wounded.

We were told by our government that they had to think about the many and not the few. How many is many? Lets see, there is the distinct possibility that 9/11 could have been prevented, and what about all the innocent Yemeni citizens that Saleh and his security forces have murdered in the past 10 years, and he is still killing his own people today! Or throwing them in prison while using America money, and equipment. Only two of many examples.

We know that Obama did not have the courage to stop supporting Saleh of Yemen on the grounds that Saleh would not extradite our son's killers, and Saleh's support, and use of Al-Qaeda. But maybe now Obama will have to stop his support of Saleh since the people of Yemen themselves are demanding that Saleh and the rest of his crooked family to relinquish power, and to let the Yemenis begin a real democracy. Our government can easily ignore the pleas of one American family, but I don't see how Obama will continue to ignore a whole nation of people, the Yemenis themselves.

But then again, Yemen is one valuable piece of real estate to have access too. And Obama may be willing to pay the price in Yemeni lives and a little bad press to keep his deal with Saleh.