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The Yemen Option
| Length: | 40 min |
| Released: | 2004 |
| Ages: |
College Adult |
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Yemen's strategic location at the crossroads of the Middle East has made it a haven for Islamic terrorists. Today it has become a clandestine battlefield critical to Washington's success in its "war on terror".
After the overthrow of Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 2001, there were fears that Osama bin Laden would transform Yemen into his new base. It is the ancestral homeland of the bin Laden family and Al Qaeda¹s ranks were already full of Yemenis. More importantly, large sections of the country were outside the effective control of the government, ruled by heavily armed tribes sympathetic to Islamic extremists. For over three years a deadly yet largely unreported struggle has played out across the country, from arrests and assassinations on the ancient stone streets of Sana, the capital, to a planned missile strike in the desert by the CIA.
Yemen's government has found a middle path between Washington's demand to seek out and destroy Al Qaeda, and the views of many Yemenis who are sympathetic to its ideals. It is called the "Yemen Option". The government denies terrorists the tools of their deadly trade, buying back weapons on the black market, no questions asked. We meet a captured member of Al Qaeda, a star recruit in the Yemen government¹s controversial rehabilitation program to release Al Qaeda members who renounce the movement. Despite American concerns, the "Yemen Option" appears to be working. Much time has now passed since the last major attack by Al Qaeda in Yemen, an extraordinary turnaround.
After the overthrow of Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 2001, there were fears that Osama bin Laden would transform Yemen into his new base. It is the ancestral homeland of the bin Laden family and Al Qaeda¹s ranks were already full of Yemenis. More importantly, large sections of the country were outside the effective control of the government, ruled by heavily armed tribes sympathetic to Islamic extremists. For over three years a deadly yet largely unreported struggle has played out across the country, from arrests and assassinations on the ancient stone streets of Sana, the capital, to a planned missile strike in the desert by the CIA.
Yemen's government has found a middle path between Washington's demand to seek out and destroy Al Qaeda, and the views of many Yemenis who are sympathetic to its ideals. It is called the "Yemen Option". The government denies terrorists the tools of their deadly trade, buying back weapons on the black market, no questions asked. We meet a captured member of Al Qaeda, a star recruit in the Yemen government¹s controversial rehabilitation program to release Al Qaeda members who renounce the movement. Despite American concerns, the "Yemen Option" appears to be working. Much time has now passed since the last major attack by Al Qaeda in Yemen, an extraordinary turnaround.
"The video benefits from the inclusion of scenes in areas rarely seen...The script is apposite, concise and impartial. This is a timely explication of an unseen component of the "war on terror." Once those circumstances change it will remain a valuable portrait of U.S.-Yemeni relations and how the U.S. uses diplomacy to extend its policies." MESA Bulletin, Vol 39, No.1
"Recommended. The documentary is compelling, in partbecause it shows something that is not often seen after the initial reporting of a national event: the follow up." Beatrice R. Pulliam, MS, Library and Information Science for EMRO
"Recommended. The documentary is compelling, in partbecause it shows something that is not often seen after the initial reporting of a national event: the follow up." Beatrice R. Pulliam, MS, Library and Information Science for EMRO
