Could Yemen be the Next Surprise of the Season?

Anwar al-Awlaki

The jihad movement around the world has witnessed a surprising growth during
the past few years. After 9-11 America had succeeded in pulling together an
international coalition in order to fight the mujahedeen. It invaded
Afghanistan and Iraq, put pressure on governments around the world to throw
anyone with association with Jihad behind bars and to stop the flow of money
into Jihad movements. All over the world the mujahedeen have suffered an
international effort under the leadership of America to bring an end to
Jihad. But Eight years later the mujahedeen are wining on every front and
are expanding into new ones. It appeared difficult back then to imagine that
the world would be the way it is today just 8 years after 9-11.
That is because Rasulullah(saaws) said: ³A group of my ummah will continue
fighting in the path of Allah and they will not be harmed by those who are
against them.²

The American people gave G.W. Bush unanimous backing to fight against the
mujahedeen and gave him a blank check to spend as much as needed to fulfill
that objective. The result? He failed, and he failed miserably. So if
America failed to defeat the mujahedeen when it gave its president unlimited
support, how can it win with Obama who is on a short leash? If America
failed to win when it was at its pinnacle of economic strength, how can it
win today with a recession ­ if not a depression- at hand?
The simple answer is: America cannot and will not win. The tables have
turned and there is no rolling back of the worldwide Jihad movement. The
ideas of Jihad are proliferating around the world, the mujahedeen movements
are gaining strength and the battlefields are expanding with the mujahedeen
introducing new fronts.

In Afghanistan the rural areas are mostly under the control of the Taliban
and there is a steady improvement in the growth and strength of the
mujahedeen. In Iraq even though the US claims an improvement in the security
situation but one needs to ask the question at what cost is that achieved?
The amount of money America is spending on Iraq with a recession at hand is
unattainable.

The Jihad of this era started in Palestine, followed by Afghanistan, then
Chechnya, then Iraq, then Somalia, then the Maghreb, and the new front might
very well turn out to be Yemen.

And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single
most important front of Jihad in the world.

Why? First, the Arabian Peninsula has always been a land of mujahedeen even
though there has been no fighting occurring on its soil. In Afghanistan,
Bosnia, Chechnya, and Iraq the participation of mujahedeen from the Arabian
Peninsula represented the largest block of foreign mujahedeen. When Jihad
starts in the Arabian Peninsula, Jihad would be coming back to its home.
Second, he Arabian Peninsula is home to Makkah and Madinah. To free the Holy
places from the rule of apostasy and tyranny is to free the heart of Islam.
Third, the rulers in the Arabian Peninsula are playing a central role in the
fight against Islam especially the al Saud family. The al Saud of today are
the Abdullah bin Ubay of yesterday. They have perfected the art of
hypocrisy. They fight Islam in the name of Islam. They wear cloaks of sheep
on hearts of wolfs. There cannot be Islamic rule and a return to khilafah
without removing them from existence and this is the responsibility of the
mujahedeen of the Arabian Peninsula.

America and its allies in the area are plotting against the mujahedeen,
nevertheless their growth increases by the day. May Allah grant the true
believers victory and grant them steadfastness on His path.

Their intention is to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but
Allah will complete His light even thought the disbelievers may detest it.
(al Saff 61)