May 28, 2009

The Yemeni Military Beyond Central Control

I want to highlight one aspect of the very accurate Crisis Group's report on the four year Sa'ada War in Yemen. ( My photo essay of destruction in Sa'ada is by Bill.) The report correctly notes on page 25 that the four cease fires failed because the Yemeni government failed to implement its own part of the deal- because the military failed to follow orders.

The military, ministries, security forces etc. function as fiefdoms and are beyond control of the central government, which is also why the reforms never get implemented and development projects fail time after time. Because of corruption and the complete lack of accountability, different parts of the government go in different directions and compete with each other and in sum produce an overall irrational outcome. President Saleh could never make peace with the rebels, he didn't have the capacity (assuming he was sincere) because the military had an agenda of its own.

So now extrapolate that lack of central control of the military and the security forces to the issues of terrorism and organized crime, and what do you get - a mafia with an airforce and military commanders training terrorists in military camps.

Arguably the most serious impediment was that both mediation efforts and steps announced by the government to calm the situation were either undermined by accompanying repressive measures or, more simply, not implemented at all.149 This partly resulted from competing approaches between the political leadership and army command. According to a Zaydi scholar who participated in unofficial mediation efforts, “when the president called for mediation, the army did not always cooperate. Mediation efforts would have succeeded had there been a consensus between the politicians and the army. Instead, they were sabotaged by disagreement”. 150 This claim was supported by different participants and independent observers. Another mediator offered an example of government branches working at cross-purposes:

Update: Yemen Post: Man wounded as police destroy his home with bulldozers.

Update 2 is from ISPN. (Qat is a slightly narcotic shrub that is chewed by 70% of Yemeni men for several hours daily and is destroying Yemen's argriculture, economy and public health):

"Qat is a major source of tax revenue and the centre of all corruption in Yemen. Over 50 percent of tax revenue is derived from qat, but this is only about a third of the real revenue it generates. Everyone from farmers to the highest officials is involved in the qat trade and taking money under the table."

While the government makes broad statements about its intention to reduce the consumption and cultivation of the narcotic plant, any genuine effort is thwarted from within, he adds. "Much of the crop is actually grown on government land, so officials involved will block any attempt to reduce its market."