A government that already had three insurgencies to deal with (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; Shi’ite secessionists in the northwest; South Yemen secessionists in the southeast) now has protesters marching in the capital. They are wearing pink ribbons to express non-violent intent. Can that go anywhere?
I hear the Susan G Komen foundation is writing cease and desist letters as we speak.
The Yemeni leader has already done the “I won’t run again, so calm down y’all… Oh, hey, the people want me so much, I’m forced to reverse my decision” trick in 1999 and 2005. There’s a big well of distrust on his promises from the opposition.
Yemen has a lot of very interesting things going on in it, with all the connotations that can imply. Zaidi Shiism is quite different from Twelver Shiism in Iran. The reunification of North and South Yemen have had lasting repercussions with North Yemen and Saleh dominating the South.
Yemen has a big problem with their local drug of choice and national cash crop, qat. Lots of protesters leave by afternoon for their fix. Qat is a huge part of the economy and daily life.
My Arab friends are all looking at Algeria right now as the most likely next domino.
I think they’ll only get pissed if they call it “Revolution for the Cure”.
Hm. Never even heard of that stuff before. (Is it street-sold anywhere in the U.S.?)
I’ve tried it in Yemen (one of the most interesting places I have ever been). It tastes like leaves and takes a long time to have much effect… it is quite mild, but most Yemenis spend a large percentage of their lives in a qat-induced state.
Minneapolis is a good bet, or anywhere else with a substantial Somali community.
Apparently it’s pretty expensive to import because nobody’s figured out a good way to dry it so you pretty much have to refrigerate it.
Probably, but imagine drinking a dozen coffee’s one after the other. The effects are somewhat similar. I’ve tried the stuff when I was there and all I got for my troubles was cuts on my gums (not one told me to remove the stems, D’oh!).
The issue is that people use what little money they have to buy the stuff that they don’t have much left over for food. Plus the water usage and the loss of revenue from crops that could be sold externally.
Hmf! “Imagine” indeed! You’re talking to Dopers here!
Yes, I do imagine they have the same glassy eyed stare of the habitual qat chewer. It helps explain some of the posts I’ve seen over the years…
Link
Imagine a “cud cocktail” of qat, betel leaves, coca leaves and chewing terbacky . . . Wonder what effect that would have?
And now look what has happened to this thread. :o
I blame the Yemenis. People of Yemen! At this unique moment in the glorious history of your country, you have also a duty to the wider world! A duty to keep us entertained with drama and/or carnage every fucking day until sweeps week! Spit out the qat and drag yourselves to the barricades! This is your chance to create a world where one American in four actually knows where Yemen is!
It just occurred to me: Does the multitude of discontented factions in the streets of Yemen include any Communists?
I ask only because South Yemen was a Communist country from 1970 to 1990 (when it was merged with North Yemen); presumably the ideology must have had some measure of on-the-ground popularity. Does it still?
Sounds like they put down the qat and discovered coke!
As protests continue, Yemen clamps down on foreign media.
Now that the media is concentrated on Japan, is the right time everywhere to clamp down on anything. Not sure it’s working thou, we still hear about it.
Like that’s gonna work.
It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out
On one hand now that the UN is going to impose a no-fly zone on Libya, it shows that the UN will do something. So this may mean those in charge of dictatorial regimes in the Mideast (and elsewhere) will want to quash any source of protest, before, so a no-fly zone won’t be put on it
Or it may mean that the other regimes realize the West can only do so many no-fly zones at once so they have nothing to fear as the West isn’t going to be able to do that everywhere