Today's news that foreign hostages in Yemen have been killed comes as U.S. officials are growing alarmed about violent extremism in that country, where a suicide attack hit the U.S. destroyer Cole (DDG-67) in 2000.
To wit:
- In a speech last Thursday at the Willard Hotel, U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus said of Yemen, "We're very concerned about the challenges that have emerged there."
- In a background briefing the next day at the Pentagon, a senior defense official told reporters al Qaeda remains a global network with significant links across a number of continents and to various groups, including the Horn of Africa and Yemen.
- "I am very worried about growing safe havens in both Somalia and Yemen, specifically, because we've seen al Qaeda leadership -- some leaders start to flow to Yemen," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen said in a May 18 speech at the Brookings Institution.
- Somalia and Yemen are potential safe havens for al Qaeda in the future, CIA chief Leon Panetta warned in a speech the same day to the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Also: The New York Times reports today that violence has been rising in Yemen throughout the last year.
