By: centraljersey.com
MONROE – Even the cops are high in the dry southwestern Arabian country of Yemen, which potentially could become a hotbed for terrorists.
That’s because the military is busy fighting pirates, the ruler for more than three decades could be forced to step down – making the country easy prey for Al Qaeda – and many world leaders are ignoring the country since its lack of resources have made it all but forgotten.
In a presentation called "Understanding Yemen" at the Monroe Township Public Library, Professor Angus Kress Gillespie of Rutgers University explained the culture, politics and problems in the Arabian Peninsula country in the wake of military advisers calling it "the next Afghanistan."
The media room was filled with about 40 spectators from nearby communities and colleges last Saturday as Professor Gillespie gave his presentation.
He began the presentation by explaining the poverty within the country. Half of Yemenis make less than $2 a day, he said. This is largely due to the dry climate and unforgiving terrain, which provide a scarce amount of resources, the professor explained.
"Yemen is at risk to be the first nation to run out of water," he said.
Many of the mountains are terraced to provide irrigation, but crop yields are still scarce due to the country’s dry desert climate, he said.
Most Yemenis live in the countryside – about 70 percent – but that number is decreasing, and the urban population is increasing as agriculture begins to fail, and young people begin to move to the city in search of jobs, Professor Gillespie said.
The country is the legendary home of the Queen of Sheba, or the biblical character in First Kings 10:1-13, who was astonished by the wisdom of King Solomon. Sheba is another name for Yemen, Professor Gillespie said.
He continued to give a short history of Yemen, saying Islam didn’t enter the country until the seventh century.
In 1832, the British captured the important port city of Aden, he said, but he added European influence has been very minimal in the country’s long history.
The Yemenis capital of Sana’a is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and is known for its Islamic architecture that has absolutely no depictions of animals, plants or humans because Yeminis believe such imagery dilutes the idealism in the city’s architectural shapes and designs.
Idealism is common all around the Arabian Peninsula, and westerners often offend local Yemenis when they come from Europe or America and fail to respect the mosques and other formal customs, but there is much conflict and disunity between the Yemenis themselves as well, Professor Gillespie explained.
North and South Yemen weren’t united until 1990, he said. North Yemen is mostly barren desert, and as a result, the border with Saudi Arabia is difficult to enforce.
"Recently there has been a crackdown along the poorly enforced border," Professor Gillespie said.
Drug lords fight border control officers to the death because in Saudi Arabia, drug lords are beheaded, he added.
In Yemen also, there are still public executions, and every man over the age of 14 carries a jambiya, a fancy dagger.
The most popular drug in Yemen is khat, and it requires a lot of water, the professor said. The plant is a stimulant that induces mild euphoria and excitement.
"After about 3 p.m. don’t try to get any business done in Yemen," he said. "Even the officers are high on khat."
He said many of the men are spending half of their wages on khat and not bringing home enough money for the family.
Some people in the audience wanted to hear more about the terrorist threat that has made Yemen "the next Afghanistan."
"Yemen could be characterized as a hotbed of terrorism," Professor Gillespie responded, because law enforcement is weak, the military is busy fighting pirates and drug lords, and world leaders haven’t been keeping an eye on the country. The Yemenis village of Rihab is also the ancestral home of Osama Bin Laden.
The audience also wanted to know why the United States isn’t as upset with Yemen as it is with Libya, and Professor Gillespie said it’s primarily because Yemen doesn’t have as much oil.
"It’s tempting for world leaders to sweep Yemen under the carpet," he said.
He also said Ali Abdullah Saleh, "the strong man of Yemen," or the president, is much more rational than Moammar Gadhafi, the leader of Libya, thus easier to negotiate with.
Nonetheless, Saleh has been in power for 33 years.
Protestors have called for Saleh to step down, but even as former followers have defected and resigned, he still was clinging to power as of Tuesday of this week. Saleh has said he would accept an earlier deal to leave before 2013, but the opposition now rejects that and wants him out immediately.
And the United States is concerned that if Saleh steps down, Al Qaeda could move in during the transition of power.
"The underlying problem is a conflict of cultures," Professor Gillespie said. "We’d like to think the U.S. is exporting democracy, but maybe they (Yemenis) don’t want it."
The country of about 27 million people has a median age of 18, and the life expectancy is 63. It has the second largest military on the Arabian Peninsula, and its most common duty is to fight piracy in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
"You’re dealing with warlords and tribal leaders primarily," said spectator Diana Blioch from Concordia. "We’re (the United States) just stuffing them with money and getting nothing,"
She added, "It’s not the people. They’re kept in ignorance. If they eat three meals a day they’re lucky. We don’t even know half the things going on."
"It seems the relation between us and them is that they have a dictatorship, and we have a democracy," said Samantha Brown, who came from Rowan University in Glassboro. "But they’re willing to comply with the U.S. in the war on terror so it’s a difficult, delicate situation."

