Saturday, April 30, 2011

Shall the South (Yemen) ceceede?

The Jamestown Foundation has issued a report on South Yemen's secessionist movement.  http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4db7b7362.html

The Foundation, which bills itself as conservative think tank, presents a balanced and, I think, nonpolitical report.

The report nots a bunch of interesting facts, such as:

-- the South's history of communism and socialism has lead to the relative equality of women, unmatched in the north;

--the South is predominantly Sunni (but not the Saudi brand); the North, predominantly an offshoot of Shia (and presumably different from the same brand Shia  that occupies Western Saudi Arabia, where the oil is, and the northern part of Yemen, where the Saudis are attempting a genocidal war against a Shia minority);

-- there are long historical reasons and reasons of geography why the north and south can't live together;

-- the Foundation's conclusion is that Yemen cannot afford to divide, and the South's grievances must be addressed in a new government.

My own belief is that the transition organized by the Oil Dictators would keep the present government in power and the South should continue to push for its own government.  Lots of Southerners seem to agree.

Here are pics of Southern cities mentioned in the report:

Aden:




Mukulla:









al-Habilayn




The first two cities remind me of Oahu; the last, of Raymondville, in South Texas.  I like South Yemen; I will it well.


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