A jacket wallah killed at least 22 people outside a police academy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday, dramatically exposing the government's vulnerability to al Qaeda-linked forces of Evil despite a U.S.-backed offensive against them.All states, even the U.S. and Britain, are vulnerable to boomers all the time. Yemen is, apparently for the first time, taking the problem seriously.
Policeman Fadel Ali told Rooters police cadets were leaving the academy when the bomber attacked: "We ran to the place and found dozens of cadets covered in blood. Blood was everywhere." Parts of the cadets' khaki uniforms were scattered across the dirt outside the academy, and blood spattered the walls.
That's usually the case when they detonate...
Unusually, the suicide bomber did not die immediately but was evacuated to hospital by medical staff.
... who proceeded to treat his wounds with salt and rubbing alcohol...
He was missing a leg and an arm.
He was also missing, spleen, pancreas, 22 feet of intestine, liver, and onions...
A Yemeni security official, who declined to be named, said the bomber told security officers before he died that he was affiliated with al Qaeda and came from Amran, a town 70 km (43 miles) north of Sanaa.
"Aaaiiieee! No more salt! No more alcohol! I came from Amran!"
"Where the hell is that?"
"A town 70 km north of Sanaa!"
"What's that in miles?"
"43 miles, I think!"
"Where's your controller hang out?"
"[RATTLE!] Rosebud!"
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed the attack, just as it did a similar attack in Sanaa in May, when a suicide bomber in army uniform killed more than 90 people rehearsing for a military parade.
"Yep. That's right. We dunnit. Well, he did it. We planned it."
The violence in the heart of the capital demonstrated how far the government is from defeating the forces of Evil despite a U.S.-backed offensive that drove them out of their southern strongholds this year.
Actually, the Yemeni government has defeated AQAP in the field, killing or capturing large numbers of them. They're now going back to guerrilla warfare in which they hope to destabilize and weaken the government through a process of attrition and terrorism.
IN RETREAT, NOT DEFEATED
"The bombing shows that the security services are still weak ... which is to be expected, since Saleh's seat is still warm and lots of his relatives and proteges are still occupying positions from which they can undermine Hadi...
and that al Qaeda has not been defeated but simply retreated, maintaining its ability to strike wherever it wants," said Saeed Obeid, an expert on al Qaeda.
Experts on Yemen aren't a dime a dozen, but you can probably get three for a quarter. I'm guessing there aren't any genuine 'experts,' not even Hadi, since the problem set they're facing is brand new, never been faced before. On the other hand, we've seen lots of asymmetrical warfare in the past fifty years, so we know that once defeated in the field they'll go back to terror tactics, lick their wounds, raise some more money from among the faithful, and try again if the state moves into failure, go to Timbuktoo to try their luck there if it doesn't.