Word: yemenis
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...Setting the guidelines for cooperation with the Yemeni government had been difficult enough. It took nearly a month after the attack for the U.S. and Yemen to sign a protocol, the contents of which remain classified, delineating how the investigation would be carried out and what responsibilities would be shared. Even as the FBI was tackling forensics, the Yemenis were making quick progress in their specialty-arrests. "They arrested everybody they could find with a beard," says a Yemeni official. Now Yemeni sources have told TIME that the Yemeni Attorney General's office could soon bring the suspects...
...official Yemeni source has reported to investigators that the terrorist group--characterized as being non-Yemeni--seen as responsible for the Cole attack last October had previously attempted to hit a U.S. warship refueling in Aden, but failed when the terrorists' boat proved un-seaworthy. In addition, terrorists allegedly twice attempted to strike U.S. military mine clearance personnel within the past year...
These revelations raise two critical questions. First, is the Yemeni source reporting valid information, or is Yemen hyping the level of external involvement to deflect attention from its own civilian and government involvement? Subsequently, did the embassy and Central Intelligence Agency station recognize the danger and, if so, did they relay this information quickly to Washington and military planners? The embassy could ill afford to make inherently subjective security decisions on its own, without senior consultation; while providing a unique, direct perspective on Yemen-specific security issues, their closeness to the host country could actually inhibit objective analysis...
...second set of more disturbing questions emerges if Yemen failed to pass threat information to the U.S. Although withholding such information would likely be intended to prevent American over-reaction and damage to U.S.-Yemeni relations, the consequences of such actions are measured in American dead. Having characterized the Yemeni government as a "strategic partner" beforehand, it seems that Ambassador Barbara K. Bodine--the highest-ranking U.S. official in Yemen--viewed it as a trustworthy partner willing to provide warnings on possible threats. If any information was withheld, this not only speaks to the Yemeni government's untrustworthiness, but also...
...observers and investigators believe that his networks may in fact be a lot more diffuse and autonomous, consisting instead of local Islamist underground armies - often linked by networks of Afghanistan vets - sharing resources and making common cause with Bin Laden's campaign against the U.S. Add to that the Yemeni haste to finish the investigation, and the suspects may once again be dead before we know where they got their orders...