Yemen’s new devastating trinity

If we would like to talk about the history of Yemen, we would of course mention the horrible and tragic situations that Yemen suffered from for many centuries. The Imamate of Yemen, which lasted for nearly 11 centuries, imposed deliberately its atrocious trinity on Yemeni people which consists of the union of sickness, ignorance and backwardness. Yemen through its enlightened and free men could put an end for this period of Yemeni history after the outbreak of the revolution in 1962 which ended the Imamate and expelled its theocratic impious rulers and followers. Unfortunately, Yemen at present is exposed to a similar devastating trinity to the one that it was exposed to in the past by the Imamate.

The first side of this new trinity is clearly implemented by the political and armed acts of Houthi insurgents who fight regular Yemeni government in Saada governorate. In my opinion as a foreigner who lived long in Yemen and knew more about the demographic structure of Yemeni society, I think that those insurgents are the best example of the sickness which existed effectively in the extinct Imamate's trinity. Houthi rebels who have far-reaching theocratic and ethnic trends wish of having the Imamate back in Yemen as the unique political authority. As I have read about the imamate's era in Yemen and have heard from many officials about the tyrannical and individual actions of the last imams, I hope not with many other Arab and Western officials to see again a sick Yemeni kingdom in the region reigned by biased doctrinal imams.

The second side of the vanished imamate's trinity, the ignorance, can be put alongside with the third side of the new trinity on Yemen, Al-Qaeda. Members of Al-Qaeda and specially the ones who lived in Arab countries like Yemen are the real ignorant ones. They can be described as ignorant militants who know incorrectly about the Islam and who apply the wrong sides of this tolerant and universal religion. Al-Qaeda's militants in Yemen murder innocent people, tourists and soldiers, destroy dramatically the economy and the tourism of Yemen and increase the hostile views of the West and specially the United States on Yemen. They also weaken significantly the chances of a very poor country like Yemen in joining promptly a strong and wealthy body like the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf. All these acts and following consequences represent noticeably the new side of the trinity, i.e., Al-Qaeda in Yemen, which resembles exactly the ignorance in the imamate's trinity.

The Southern Political Movement, which is leaded by a son of a former Yemeni sultan, can be actually represented by the third side of the old devastating trinity, the backwardness. Going back nearly 20 years to tear apart the Yemeni unity is in my opinion a sheer backwardness.  Other supporting voices from different southern governorates inside and outside Yemen are other examples of this backwardness. They are simply traitors and not patriotic citizens. They are also not aware entirely of the consequences for such actions that reflect no more than a Yemeni new backwardness in the views of the Western and other developed nations. All I can say that those who call for a secession of a country which historically was one in its all different eras in the course of time should learn how to be practical politicians and fight peacefully and logically to get their requests fulfilled if they have originally fair and deserved national demands.

It is obvious for all that the wisdom of the Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, and his way of dealing with turbulent political dilemmas succeeded during the last secession war in 1994 in reunifying the country as his Yemeni free predecessors did in the past when they succeeded in getting rid of an autocratic and isolationistic regime. This president still has remarkable logistic, political and regional supports from the West and all Arab countries in his efforts concerning defeating this new devastating trinity and I hope that his wisdom will surmount all obstacles facing Yemen and its vague and perplexed future.

* Phil Cavallero is a former technical consultant worked in Yemen during the 1990s.

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