I really have to stop reading and blogging and get back to work, but I want to highlight one aspect of the very accurate CGO Sa’ada report which lays out (with supporting documentation) many basic truths that have been obscured for years- including the following on page 25, which correctly notes the four ceasefires failed in part because the regime 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. Saleh could never make peace, he didn’t have the capacity (assuming he was sincere) because the military had an agenda of its own.
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:
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. This too one day will be documented.
Update: Yemen Post: Man wounded as police destroy his home with bulldozers.
Update 2: ISPN:
“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.”
Its the same configuration over and over in every area including the political realm, corporate, security, basic services, development and terrorism. There is no single government, only multiple actors deploying state power and resources for a variety of ends.
(As a side note, Im so happy the report documents that, NO, the Houthi prisoners were never released- since 2005- despite at least 25 government announcments to the contrary. The regime arrested its own fact finding committee, and so on. Its a good report. You can’t imagine the incredible flack I got in 2005 for writing that 68,000 Sa’ada residents were displaced by the war; by 2008 the number was 130,000. Hopefully there will be some changes now as the truth is better documented by both CGO and Human Rights Watch. My photo essay of destruction in Sa’ada is at Bill’s. You can see, there really needs to be some changes.)
