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Guest Thinkers — December 21, 2010

The Humorous and the Dangerous

Gregory Johnsen

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Oh, I love this quote by an unnamed (Is there any other kind?) Saudi adviser:

“The orders are not to go physically into Yemeni territory,” he said. “We don’t want to get bogged down there or inflame any local sensitivities, if there are any, against us.”

Yeah, right? Local sensitivities in Sa’dah, c’mon those guys are, well, you know.

This also infuriated me. Nowhere in the piece that Jane Novak is referring to did Muhammad ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Rashad call “for Sunni men to join with Yemeni President Saleh’s forces in battling the Shiite Houthi rebels.” This is a gross misreading of the statement by someone who does not know Arabic. Not only is this misleading, but it complicates an already murky picture and is dangerous to boot. Relying on second-hand media reports to make a damning accusation like this is not at all responsible.

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