Will Yemen Be the Site of the Next U.S. Hostage Crisis (and Votes for Hostages Deal)?

[McCamy Taylor]

I have a bad feeling about this. Read on, and I think you will, too.

We all remember how Reagan/Bush got into office They arranged a votes for hostages deal with Iran. Iran held onto the hostages until after the 1980 election, in order to hurt President Jimmy Carter's re-election chances. But how many folks here remember why Iran took the American embassy hostage in the first place?

In 1979, the U.S. puppet dictator, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi aka the Shah of Iran was forced out of power. He wandered from country to country, until President Jimmy Carter decided to let him come to the United States, ostensibly for medical treatment. As if we were the only country in the world with doctors. (Note that Switzerland offered to take in the Shah.) The revolutionary government in Iraq used this as an excuse to storm the American embassy and take hostages. The corporate media in the United States used this act of terrorism to launch its "America Held Hostage!" political campaign against Carter with the goal of unseating the Democratic president and replacing him with corporate puppet Reagan and ex-CIA boss Bush.

Now, the United States is talking about letting the president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh come to the U.S.----for medical treatment. As if we are the only country in the world with doctors. Note that Yemen has reason to blame the U.S. for the abuses of its president. Note also that the country has its own share of terrorists, though in this case they are the Sunni Al Qaeda rather than the Shiites of Iran.

"The United States has found itself in a sometimes awkward position as the unrest in the Arab world has swept through Yemen. The administration conducts extensive counterterrorism operations with the Saleh government on suspected Al Qaeda cells in Yemen."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/world/middleeast/saleh-yemen-leader-may-visit-the-us-for-treatment.html?hp

There are plenty of parallels between Iran and Yemen.

"A turning point in the standoff came on March 18, when security forces and government supporters opened fire on demonstrators as they rose from their noon prayers. The crackdown failed to disperse the protest, even though at least 40 people were killed and more than 100 injured. Mr. Saleh declared a state of emergency shortly after the violence, and denied that security forces had been involved in any shooting.

snip

"In late March, the United States, which had long supported Mr. Saleh, even in the face of the protests, quietly shifted positions after concluding that he is unlikely to bring about the required reforms and must be eased out of office. While American officials have not publicly pressed Mr. Saleh to go, they told allies that they now view his hold on office as untenable, and they believe he should leave."

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/s/ali_abdullah_saleh/index.html?inline=nyt-per

What happens if Saleh comes to the United States? Nothing---unless Al Qaeda and the Saudis who finance them want to force Obama from office and install another friend of oil/George Bush clone as U.S. president. In that case, Al Qaeda can create another hostage crisis--or the political equivalent---in Yemen this time. There will be civilians involved in the protests, making it extremely difficult for Obama to send in troops. The U.S. corporate media will moan about how America is (once again) being held hostage. Al Qaeda/the Saudis will ensure that the conflict in Yemen does not end until a Republican is in the White House. Right now all the GOP candidates are the lackeys of Big Oil....

This is not a conspiracy theory. There is solid proof that Bush negotiated with Iran back in 1980. The Reagan-Bush administration paid for their sins by being blackmail targets of Iran for 12 years and then again for eight more years under Bush-Cheney. The U.S. sold arms to Iran (illegally). We took down Iran's enemy, Saddam. Big Oil reigned supreme. And before that, Henry Kissinger derailed the peace talks between the U.S. and Vietnam in order to get Nixon elected.

The far right is not known for its creativity. If a political dirty trick works once, they will repeat it again and again. That's what the word "conservative" means. Hostages for votes was a huge success, from the point of view of corporate America. It is inevitable that right wing strategists will consider repeating history. Indeed, back in 2009, I predicted that this would be one of the strategies contemplated by the next Right Wing Coup in America.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7336413

So, if it isn't too much trouble, please Mr. President, consider letting Saleh go to some nice neutral country for his health care. I hear they have a great medical system in Europe, better than our own.

[prepperdad]

1. Very possible

Since that entire country's government has basically collapsed 6 months ago. The place is pretty much lawless now.

[url]http://www.survivingeconomiccollapse.net[/url]

[McCamy Taylor]

2. More on Yemen, Saleh and Deja Vu

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/world/middleeast/saleh-yemen-leader-to-be-admitted-into-us-for-medical-care.html?pagewanted=all

Update from The New York Times

“In the end, we felt there was enough good to be gained that it was worth managing the criticism that we’d get, including any comparisons to past episodes,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the arrangement was still being completed.

The official was referring to President Jimmy Carter’s decision in 1979 to admit the ailing shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, into the United States for medical treatment. That infuriated the Islamic revolutionaries who had overthrown the shah’s rule.

Antigovernment activists in Yemen said in recent days that they were worried that the United States would grant Mr. Saleh refuge and that if it did, they would demand he be returned for prosecution at home.

[McCamy Taylor]

3. And Neo-Con Wa Po calls it "politically risky"

which is another way of saying "If anything bad happens to US citizens in Yemen as a result we will are prepared to blame the violence on Obama, accusing him of being politically naive."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/44/post/obama-administration-weighing-ex-yemen-president-salehs-request-to-enter-us/2011/12/26/gIQAj8VRIP_blog.html

Allowing Saleh into the country could be politically risky for Obama given the former president’s repressive 33-year reign and the sustained unrest in Yemen.

Obama would be insane to let Saleh into the country right now. This is the Christmas holiday. The news is slow. The NeoCons love to pull their shit during the Christmas holidays for maximum news coverage.