READER COMMENTS

Terrorism used the Islamic religion as a cover for a number of reasons; first, to influence young Muslims and get them to join this organization, and secondly, to disseminate the terrorist ideology in the Arab world. Of course, this does not mean that Islam and terrorism are one; we definitely reject comparing terrorism to the Islamic religion, which preaches goodness, tolerance and brotherhood. Unfortunately, this way of thinking is prevalent among the communities of most European countries, precisely because they do not have any knowledge about Islam. Therefore, it is essential that the governments there show that Islam is a religion of God and not of terrorism, and that terrorists are using it as a cover to tarnish its reputation. These communities should know that it is true that terrorists are threatening them by targeting innocent people, but this does not mean that Muslims are the ones who did this. Muslims are also suffering because of this organization, just like the Western world, and even more. Every day, we witness acts of killing and sabotage and bombings in several Arab and Muslim countries, because they reject terrorism and its presence on their soils.

Every leader has pros and cons, but there are persons who have more pros than cons. The warrior leader Ali Abdullah Saleh is the best leader to take over the leadership of the government of Yemen. He is a courageous leader who can face things, and he managed to eliminate the discord and the sectarianism sparked by the Shiite extremists who wanted Yemen to be a hotbed for wars. They tried to overthrow the regime in Yemen, but the sole leader Ali Abdullah Saleh confronted them and kept Yemen from being divided; he united the people through the power of his will. Without Ali Abdullah Saleh, may God preserve him, Yemen would not have been able to avoid the trouble of the secession of the south of Yemen, which the Shiites and the Houthists, who are terrorists and who do not want peace, wanted to achieve. Therefore, the confrontation against them must be carried out by security forces and military operations, to prevent them from carrying out attacks against the government of Yemen and the Yemeni people, because they are terrorists. The Yemeni people should rally around their security and political leadership, in the face of these circumstances and these extremists who are loyal to Iran and want Iran to dominate the Arabs and Muslims. Anyone who tries to breach the order in Yemen should be punished, in order for Yemen to be a stable and calm country.

The spread of the terrorist al-Qaeda, which we notice in the south of Yemen, is attributed to special reasons, especially with the recruiting of many youth who are unaware of this organization. In fact, the al-Qaeda leaders are famous for taking advantage of any weak point in order to take control of any country that has disputes and controversial issues. They had promised southern Yemenis to grant them freedom and help them get rid of the dictatorship of Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is responsible for the spread of al-Qaeda there. In fact, he has repressed and marginalized Shiites in Yemen and killed them without any reason. All these facts urged them to adhere to the terrorist al-Qaeda, which has exploited them a lot and laughed at them as a result of the country’s wrong policy toward them. If the government had adopted the principles of democracy and freedom, it would have been almost impossible for any al-Qaeda members to enter the country and find refuge. Indeed, if the government is democratic and gives citizens of different sects and colors their rights, the relationship between the people and the government will be strong, very consolidated and based on mutual trust. However, Ali Abdullah Saleh and his torturers are responsible for creating a gap in the country, since he has adopted the policy of intimidation and marginalization against the Shiites, just like other idiots who have lost their countries’ and their citizens’ love because of this matter.

The al-Qaeda terrorist organization set foot on the Yemeni territory because the region there is rough and still in its early stages. They have been supported by some of the people who have facilitated their presence on Yemeni territory. Moreover, the Yemeni terrain is rugged and mountainous, making it easier for the elements of al-fQaeda to hide after the implementation of their terrorist operations, in case they are pursued by the Yemeni authorities or the security forces. They go to the mountains and rough areas to make it difficult for the Yemeni army to pursue them, and they go only on foot. In that case, they can fight them in the absence of heavy weapons and tanks. They also chose Yemen because it is a coastal country, and the American destroyers were sailing on the sea. They wanted to bomb them, so they went to Yemen, because it is the nearest to the sea from the south. They also chose Yemen because its borders with Saudi Arabia serves their interests and which helps them reach it easily, and carry out terrorist operations against the Saudi citizens. There are many other reasons; one of which is the poor performance of the Yemeni security forces, which makes it easier for al-Qaeda terrorists to move easily. Yemen also has many tourist destinations frequented by foreign tourists who are targeted by terrorists; they get abducted or killed, either for money or to gain a reputation through the media. Thus, many reasons have contributed to the presence of al-Qaeda in Yemen. We hope that the security forces continue their fight against them.

I certainly support my country and stand by the security forces in their work against terrorism in Yemen. I want to offer any possible help to the security forces, so they can reach any location of terrorists, or any place where there is any element of al-Qaeda. In fact, I want to save my country from these terrorists who bring with them sabotage and the destruction of the infrastructure wherever they go. All the Arab countries need to cooperate with our country to get rid of terrorism, because in the end, if it continues in Yemen and is uncontrolled, it will spread to other Arab countries. Indeed, cooperation has to be mutual, in order to eradicate terrorism in Yemen from within and from without.

The strategic location of Yemen made it a favorite destination and target for the cowardly terrorists, who wanted to move the conflict to Yemen after their failure in Iraq, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. I believe that the fact that Yemen is a neighbor of Saudi Arabia made it a safe harbor for the terrorists of Saudi Arabia, following their defeat at the hands of the Saudi security forces. Moreover, the mountainous lands of Yemen encouraged the terrorists to come to it, because this complicated topographic nature helps them in reinforcing their positions, as it is known that fighting in the mountainous areas is extremely difficult. The terrorists thought that this would be a point in their favor when they entered into a war with Yemeni government. Yemen is also close to Somalia, which suffers from insecurity and instability, due to the successive wars that are fueled by extremist movements that adopt a methodology similar to that of al-Qaeda. The terrorists thought that they could go into Somalia at any time, when necessary. All these factors combined made Yemen the favorite destination of the terrorists, who want to control the country because it has common borders with Saudi Arabia, and it is close to Somalia, which gives them the ability to cause unrest in these areas. They also want to control the waterways, just as the Somali pirates do, who attack the international ships to extort the companies, benefiting from the mountainous nature of the Yemeni lands to provide them with protection against the attacks of the Yemeni forces.

May God guide them

I do not think that the Yemeni security forces can confront the terrorists who hide in civilian areas without killing many civilians, because those malicious terrorists deliberately hide among the innocent so that the security forces will fail in reaching or shelling them when necessary. These cowardly plans prove that the cowardly villains cannot face the security forces directly, because they know that they will lose for sure. The problem is that we cannot expel the terrorists from the areas that are under their control, because they rule them dictatorially and kill whoever cooperates with the security forces. Therefore, the civilian families find themselves perplexed, because keeping silent is not a solution, while speaking out means death under the rule of the most criminal elements in the world.