Al-Qaeda

Like baseball great Yogi Berra, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had his own struggles with the English language, one of his best malapropisms was the coining of the term “unknown unknowns.” Rumsfeld was trying to make a valid point about the uncertain security situation at the time in Iraq – that there were unexpected contingencies that simply could not be prepared for; unfortunately for him (but perhaps fortunately for us), that thought came out as “unknown unknowns.”

by Frank Spring. Originally published by our partner site, World Policy Blog.

I publish this post on behalf of Mantle contributor and Advisor, Marie Mainil. She writes:

Dear Mantle Readers,

The Obama Administration says it's determined not to send American troops to Yemen to fight Al-Qaeda. American equipment and training may be sufficient in helping the Yemeni army to push Al-Qaeda out, so a direct American military involvement may, indeed, be neither necessary nor desirable. However, U.S.

I have asked recognized experts on Middle East and terrorism to comment on the current situation in Yemen, which I covered last week, and to share their views regarding the U.S. policy in that country and the nations surrounding it.

Dr. Ariel Cohen Cohen, a Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC:

The CIA investigation of the U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s November 5 murder of 13 soldiers at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas, and the December 25 failed attempt by a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to detonate a bomb inside a 300-passenger plane in Detroit has revealed links between these terrorists and a spawning Al-Qaeda network in Yemen. Major Hasan reportedly exchanged e-mails and sought spiritual guidance from a radical U.S.-born Islamic cleric, Anwar Al-Awlaki, who grew up in Yemen. Mr. Abdulmutallab said he received training and explosive devices from the Al-Qaeda operatives during his four-month stay in Yemen last year.