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NBC News investigative producer for special projects
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh appears to be left “with not a lot of good options” after his vague promise to peacefully transfer power on Thursday fell flat and may be on the verge of resigning, U.S. officials say.
Khaled Abdullah / Reuters file
Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for 32 years, tried to "tone everybody down" with his offer, contained in a statement aired on the Al Jazeera news channel. But the statement gave no indication of when he would surrender power or whether there were any conditions, and the situation is “way beyond that,” said the U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.
One official described Saleh as having "cut and run potential," adding, that "half his brain is telling him to go."
Facing mounting protests and with his top general siding with protesters demanding democracy, Saleh previously had a new presidential election by January 2012 instead of September 2013, when his term ends.
Speaking with Reuters, Yassin Noman, head of Yemen's opposition coalition, dismissed Saleh's offer as "empty words" and a spokesman said the umbrella coalition would not even respond. "No dialogue and no initiatives for this dead regime," opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabry said.
Friday opposition groups are planning a "Day of Departure" protest, hoping to get Saleh to leave Sanaa, the capital, and avoid bloodshed. Presidential guards loyal to Saleh clashed Thursday with army units backing opposition groups demanding his ouster. Saleh boosted the presidential guards out of fear that he could be an assassination target.
Making matters worse for the Arab world's third longest serving leader (only Libya's Gadhafi and Oman's Sultan Qaboos have served longer) were comments from Yemeni Gen. Ali Mohsen, the latest high ranking military man to defect to the side of the mostly young protesters.
Mohsen, who sent troops to protect pro-democracy protesters in Sanaa, said the options before Saleh were now few, and criticized what he described as his "stubbornness.” He added that the armed forces were committed to protecting protesters.
He said military rule in Arab countries was outdated and that the people would decide who would govern them in the framework of a modern, civilian state. The comments led to even more defections.
A U.S. official said that Washington would prefer Saleh step down because "cut and run leaves the government intact" and reduces the prospect for violence in the already tense nation at the southwestern tip of the Arabian peninsula. The U.S. also has interests in continuing its counter terrorism operations in Yemen, where New Mexico-born Anwar al-Awlaki has been advising al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula on anti-American operations.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague told Parliament Thursday that he had received reports that oil companies were withdrawing their staffs from Yemen. Britain said on Wednesday it was temporarily pulling out part of its Embassy team from Sanaa ahead of the protests expected on Friday.
Reuters news agency contributed to this report.
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Obama just threw another ally under the bus.
If our allies are brutal dictatorships, then we should throw them under the bus and run them over twice. Our allies should embrace the same core values as we do.
Leroy---keep shilling for the Neocons. Yemenis have the right to a democratic elected government. The US has had a long history of picking the government of other countries--it's over. Saudi Arabia will fall as well.
if saudi arabia falls,and it might,then we should all cozy up to iran,after all they will then control everything,and I do mean everything!
Interesting turn of events. Egypt, Libya, Yemen... Guess BO and company are now in action.
I guess turning our backs on Israel is now in action as well. The USA was great while it lasted.
Sorry you put your life on the line in WWII dad. Glad you and mom are in heaven and not here to see what this country has turned into.
Despite the support of Obama and some in the US, most of the feudal tin pot dictators in ME nations are going to be thrown out.
Time and tide wait for none!!!
Yemen is on the line. Next will be Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Syria and others
Changes are sweeping the Muslim world. If they throw out seventh century desert mindset barbarians and beasts ruling and bring democracy, it will be great for the world.
May be you do not know this guy as much as the rest of us. The US will have won much better position by siding with the young people who are desperately in need of fresh start and freedom. The country also needs less military and more civil progress especially in water which is running low in the country. If he resigns it only improves US position in the region.
This is the first statement ever that is by far more civil and commendable. The days when Arabs, Africans and Asians have to be ruled by military dictators is over. As soon as that becomes in effect you can be sure that radicalism will subside. It is also good for US to be on the side of the majority young who are going to be tomorrow leaders of these countries.
they all need to be under the bus.
this upheaval could spell positive change in these countries, and positive change in US relations with them.
Someone needs to tell Obama that there is going to be a job opening in Yemen!!!
Fire up Air Force One
Get him on the phone......I'll tell him of job openings coming up shortly.
He has not handled his current position very well.
I think I recall Bin Laden rooting for obama..... I did not capitalize obamas "o" because he is NOT the big "O", as he promised.
Wheres the hope-n-change chanters now? Unemployed and wishing they had their contributions back?
maybe we should go and invade his country for oil,like your friend and hero bush 2,or at least under false pretenses of wmds',bin laden rooting for obama is like an iranian double agent like chalabi rooting for bush,get real dude!,nah I take that back now,sorry!,bush loved ahmed chalabi!!!
@!$%# you @!$%#! Get the message. You guys are the real enemy!
You people are terrible to discuss your president like that. I mean just nailing him because of his ethnicity and heritage? That isn't going to change things when you create stereotypical gossip as such. The president is doing the right thing. He is allowing these governments to develop and change into something more and as we can tell they are all wanting a democracy. If we leave it to them then these countries will reform on their own. We aren't just dumping allies either, and like in a previous post on up these countries may have set up dictatorship-like governments but that isn't what they are. Most of these presidents "dictators" care about the people they are governing or else many of them would not have resigned from offive like they have and are letting the military take over temporarily until something is worked out. So you people need to leave the matter be about the president and his ethnicity and heritage from the matters that are occuring there in the middle east because the feelings are mutual. Most of these countries want to do it to themselves, but every once in a while you get the crazy I-am-going-to-kill-all-my-people because they don't want me as a leader like Ghadafi and so other governments need to step in. That is why we have taken interest in the matters over in Libya. As far as I am concerned they needed help from other world leading powers and they are getting it. After what Ghadafi had done to the US back in the 80's it seems only right that his tyranny is over-ruled and he is thrown out from there. There needs to be change, there will be change, and that change is going to be thanks to Obama and his administration and policies. This matter won't take as long to resolve as some feel it will. Time for these countries to adapt to their new governments will later be determined on how long for the countries themselves, but these wars will be cut short with modern weapontry.
You must be kidding Roslynn; his puppet masters have him dancing on the big stage having him initiate an attack on a sovereign nation trying to defend itself against armed insurrectionists.
I don't think using an AC-130 with a 25mm chain gun shooting down Libyan soldiers on open ground, and shooting tanks with a 105mm were in any UN mandate, and even if they were mandates by those girl scouts; they mean nothing according to our constitution..
The change is the new planetary tyrant dancing for his masters...attending a conference in Brazil and starting a war from there is certainly a new change.
What goes around, comes around...
We oughta call Georege e Bushy who was the bestest presdent we every had and get him to get the army togeter and go ofer their and infade them folks who are saying them bad thinks and doing them bad thinks and gerooge e Bushy nos how to get a hole bunch of reely good wars going and thats why he was the bestest presdent we every had
Tunisia, under the bus. Yemen, Under the bus. Egypt, just another speed bump. Israel, thump thump. Who next Afghanistan? Suadi Arabia? Pakistan? India? England?
It Took Billions and Billions of dollars and plenty of blood, to scratch and claw, to get allies in the Middle East. This administration is turning there backs on all of them. TUNISIA, BAHRAIN, EGYPT, YEMEN, and ISRAEL are all allies. We are handing then to the terrorists on a silver platter. Even rooting them on.
Lero--Israel? Cut the scare games. Israeli citizens elect their own government--unlike the countries that we prop up dictatorships in. Are you a shill for the RNC?
Terrorist supporters like Saudi, UAE, Pakistani rulers are ruling the prominent Muslim nations.
If people want changes from the exploitation by few and being treated as slaves, the US, British and others can't do much.
What a joke: that Kuwaiti ruler with 65 plus wives in 1991 itself! Can anyone save such rulers for long even with wars and wars?
Question is: whether we want to be on the right side or wrong side?
In the case of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, we are certainly on the wrong side. You can't get bigger terrorist supporters and exporters than these two nations.
Saleh should get out before he is blown out in the changes.
Leroy, you sound as if you resent the long-oppressed pepole of the ME finally fighting and gaining what we in this country have always said to the world makes the USA great: FREEDOM and PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. What would you have us do, Leroy? Stamp out their aspirations for the same things we in the USA have long cherished? This is their Lexington and Concord moment, their Boston Tea Party. They, like us over 200 years ago, had enough of tyranny, Leroy. I, like the French helping the infant USA then, am on their side, not yours.
Leroy, yes, we spent alot of $$$ to create a group ME allies, however, they were dictators who used our money to shackle their people for decades under a repressive system of government that flooded the streets and coffee shops (where discussion of issues take place) with informants and secret police agents and tactics to listen for and suppress all talk about the need for democracy and an end to decades-long state of emergency laws, corruption, unemployment, and rigged elections.
It seems to me that you and the other commentators that follow your line of thinking about throwing our supposed ME allies under the bus would rather that Obama say something in favor of those bloodthirsty despots and their type of rule. If that kind of government was here, I'm pretty sure that you as an American would not stand quietly for it and (like the people fighting President Saleh of Yemen) you would fight a tyrant government 32 years in place. This is their day, this is their time; they simply had enough of USA taxpayer-supported tyrants and want what we have long had and enjoyed for almost 235 years: FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY. If wanting what we Americans have is to you tantamount "throwing our allies under the bus," then SO BE IT. The Tunisians, Lybians, Egyptians, Syrians and others want an end to political repression and kleptocratic government; they want a government modeled on the ideals of the USA CONSTITUTION: Of the people, By the people, For the people.
It's a philosophical engagement - Sphere of Influence. Look it up Republicans. President Obama has formed an alliance that would have the founding fathers scratching their heads. If they could make a statement at this moment, they would likely say, "Damn that guy is really good."
President Obama is putting on a presidential clinic.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
I suspect bush 2 is scratching his head too!
We are divided, BO has made sure of that. The epidemic of obtusion in this country will be it's destruction. And, yes, divided we fall. Brace yourself.
This guy is good????? He's good at what he does, but there is a difference. The founding fathers are rolling over in their graves.
It´s good this guy goes ASP to prevent further violence in the country. But at this point, it might be too late for Saleh to negotiate his exit without a scratch, or a hitch in the can for a few years, or even the death penalty. After all, he is directly responsible for the death of at least a hundred people who were shot to death like dogs with rabies.
This type of economic/political management: in general, the combination of authoritarian rule (in this case mass assassinations), high unemployment, poor opportunities for social advancement, demographic youth bulges, low public investment in education and health and other public services, and anger at high levels of corruption, and outright thievery, in the Middle East and North Africa, and in Latin America, will prompt public uprisings that will topple their leaders. Chavez and Saleh are definitely in this list after their close friend Gadhafi moves on to better pastures! Needless to say, the Cuban government also needs to be overthrown!
so.........german,where were your people when this came to the U.N.,oh that's right you abstained,but in the end your people will show us all up,in the meantime change your username or shut up!
This is the new emerging dynamic:
Social media driven open source egalitarianism.
The sooner the hegemons realize this, the less bloodshed there will be.
The revolution will be Tweeted.
I'm happy to see these oppressive regimes go the way of the dinosaur. Good riddance.
When people have a voice in their governance, rather than decree and military rule, they feel less helpless and frustrated.
Could it just possibly - possibly - be that the Bush admin policies (including Iraq) aimed at sparking this kind of domino effect of popular uprisings, has worked? When you think about it, it is the kind of thing that would take several years for the people of other countries to say "you know what, the Americans got rid of Saddam, and we don't want them to do that here but we've had it with our dictator! Let's demand our own regime change!"
I was no fan of George Bush. His whole admin was pretty shady, but I have to say this wave of change, POPULAR change, is pretty darn encouraging and may end up vindicating Bush doctrine in the end. Maybe.
;-)
Oil & Arabs > Were paying more then just at the pumps. The CIA predicted as far back as the post WWII that OIL would be our dependence & warned of it. Back then the US Foreign policy was to put puppets in power in the Mid East & the Shah of Iran was the 1st casualty. I remember the old days of coal & now I know the CIA was right in what they said about the possibility of going to war over oil back in the Eisenhower Presidency. Not one single past President did anything about our dependence except to build the Alsakan pipe line which didn't do all that much. It doesn't matter what the US consumes or not, the prices are out of US control. OPEC did us no favors just look at who makes up OPEC. Now China emerges as the newest gas guzzlers of the world. Carter warned us in the 1970's yet nothing was done except people went out & bought Kerosene heaters another safty hazard. We didn't build small cars til the Japs did & that caused another recession. Oil embargos, recessions & wars I have had enough the political crap it has turned into. Government corruption in the oil industry & on Wall Street has run it's course.
Wow, well said. Have you seen the documentary "Collapse"? It deals with a lot of the things you mentioned in your post. Available for streaming at Netflix, btw.
Look at how much oil we get from Libya compared to most european countries,does this "no fly zone"make us the hores of the european pimps or what!?
I imagine Al Queda is happy.
Worldwide Islam is imploding because bronze age theocracy is unworkable in a global economy.
Throwing "allies" under the bus? These are the "allies" created by and for the benefit of the plutocracy that buys the congress and is about to return all but their own to serfdom. These are also the "allies" that created Al Queda by their policies and oppression. Obama is attempting to manage an impossible situation that has been developing for many, many years. The region is so volatile, so chaotic that anything can happen.
We're losing an ally and that's not good. They speak of democracy but my bet is that the rebellion will be usurped by Islamic fundamentalists. Watch and see. There is the frightening potential that all of these countries in the middleeast (Egypt, Libya, and Yemen) are going to the fundamentalists after only two years of this administration. I hope not, but it sure seems like that's where things are leading. And when people try to rise up against fundamentalist regimes, as in Iran, our government does not support them.
Allies are where we can find them. Remember, the United States and the Soviet Union were once allies... Democracy in the middle east can be a good thing I just hope it doesn't get side tracked. We have allied with dictatorships and even installed a few. Nothing new here.
I would love to see a peaceful revolution in Havana the Cuban people deserve their freedom too after so many years of the Castro Brothers.
Obama has handled this crisis with his usual deep thought and 380 degree study of the situation and then he has taken the most well-considered action. But the absolutely greatest and unique aspect that is sweeping the MENA countries is that this new generation has known nothing but living under brutal dictators. It is a highly intelligent educated generation with a vision that the prior generations never saw. That vision is without the baggage of those before them. It refuses to deal in deceit, religious bigotry, hatred, divisiveness, greed, suppression and violence because it sees no need for that ugliness in its vision.
Do not judge this new generation by old standards because they simply don't fit. Have you ever seen anyone other than these youths, on foot and with no guns, face down a tank with with massive weaponry or fight on the frontlines with a toy gun???? That is the courage and determination that informs their passion.
I will not brook ignorant criticism by people who would not and could not take one step in the shoes of either President Obama or any single one of the protesters across MENA.
Wow, democracy is sweeping the middle-east and some of you think that is a bad thing? Just like in the good ole USA; people have a right to CHOOSE their own government even if it is one the doesn't suck up to us. We have made packs with the devil and the bill is coming due. If the only allies we have a dictators and despots then we are nothing but a nation of lying hypocrites. We talk a good game; however we don't mind seeing people being ground into the earth by oppressive governments as long as it keeps the oil flowing and doesn't inconvenience us too much.
The plutocracy in the US is trying to entrench itself. It won't work because there are more of us than there are of them.
Landon, don´t drink when you write in this forum. You just wind up screwing it all up. You write like a Libyan in distress. Am I wrong?? I see you also talk about whores, pimps and so on... Tony Soprano has had an influence on you my boy...!!
Bring him and his family and subordinates to America. We can set them up with a chain of 7-11 stores.
This guy has murdered his own people. Why isn't the UN or Obama or Hillary crying we need to help the innocent civilians? The UN & Obama have "legitimized" the excuse of "help the civilians" to star a war any where it wants. Yes, OIL is a factor but its not the primarily factor (see UN)
Obama (how do the Saudi's spell Obama?) has never wanted stability in Yemen. A splintered Yemen will be a boon for Saudi Arabia. As history records the Saudis grabbed a large chunk of historical Yemen decades ago and they have always wanted more.
Watch how this develops. Will Saudi Arabia enter southern Yemen "for the sake of regional stability"? Bet you'll read that exact phrase in the coming months.
@ sandtrich
Don't bet your McDonald's paycheck on Saudi Arabia falling...
Or, the President may have dialogue with the opposition leaders, and he may help them to set the interim government; and, then, he can resign. He can help them in a lot of ways.
Pass the torch.
To all friends commented here. Believe me as a citizen of Yemen, i would like you to know the reality that this breathtaking country with friendly people old and deep in history has been kidnapped and turned into ruin, converted to the stone age by this dictatorship who captured/possessed the whole country and its wealth for himself, sons, brothers, cuisines, in-laws, close families and tribal supporters. Now after 33 years of ruling a country populated with 22m of which over 40% of them are young generation has been left with illiteracy and poverty and hunger to most of over aged men and women throughout the country. nevertheless the country became the net for who are called Algaeda and other different radicals which i believe he was behind their existence or foundation. Majority of Yemenis wants his fall and leave but meantime scared to death of who will be the next to take over as the oppositions are also rootless and hopeless, when we all dream to next era to be part of the civilized world community to share hopes, giving, knowledge and love. I please request all of you to pray for us to overcome this disastrous situation we have ended to, so we may see the light at the end of the tunnel again. salaam to all.
Democracy is breaking out everywhere and wherever we have a democratic government to deal with we are better off.
For you knuckleheads out there, and there are many, Israel is a democracy. They have elections just like us. Another democracy is France. I just thought I'd pass this on as a public service.