Yemen: HQ for rich man's jihad

The “poverty is the cause of terrorism” faction was up against it in 2009. Shirwa Ahmed left Minnesota to join the ranks of Somalia’s medieval al-Shabab, whose finances are better than those of the peasant infidels they burn alive. Earlier this year the FBI announced that Ahmed found his grim calling when he lived near the banks of the Mississipi River in a country where one hour sitting at a drive-thru window earns you seven double cheeseburgers. Then there was Major Nidal Hasan, who made good money – better than what any of the soldiers he killed made, anyway. And now there is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Western-educated young man hailing from one of the Nigerian capital’s ritziest neighborhoods, who tries to kill himself and a couple hundred others on a plane headed to the land of opportunity.

My friend Chris Harnisch is perhaps the leading expert on Yemeni terrorism. He has written a piece on the increasing role of Yemen-based Islamists in global terrorism. Their influence has reached Ahmed, Hasan, Abdulmutallab, and many others, thanks to the power of ideology above all else. Here is an excerpt and link to his piece on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Christmas Day attempt is proof of AQAP’s desire and ability to strike America and American interests. The recent U.S. and Yemeni strikes on AQAP strongholds and leadership may have weakened the group, but its recent statements suggest that it is still operational and under strong leadership. AQAP reiterated its desire to strike the U.S. in its statement claiming responsibility for Abdulmutallab’s attempt: “From here, we say to the American people: since you support your leaders and you stand behind them in killing our women and our children, rejoice for what will do you harm. We have come to you with slaughter and we have prepared for you men who love death as you love life. With permission from Allah, we will come to you from where you do not expect. As you kill, you will be killed. Tomorrow is near.”[40] AQAP has made its intentions very clear: it is no longer satisfied with attacking Saudi and Yemeni targets; it has every intention to kill Americans.