"For well over a decade, we've had a strong military presence in this region," U.S. national security adviser Samuel Berger bragged, three days after a boat packed with explosives blew a large hole in the warship. The U.S. destroyer was involved in enforcing sanctions against Iraq that have been imposed since the 1990-91 U.S.-led Gulf War.

Yemen's strategic position on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula was a primary reason for Gen. Anthony Zinni, recently retired Pentagon regional commander for the Middle East, to order refueling operations for U.S. Navy ships at Aden. The deep-water port there has served as a refueling spot for U.S. warships for nearly two years. U.S. government officials have begun floating plans to establish a "permanent" military base around Aden.

Washington's increased political and military presence in Yemen highlights progress in pursuing one of its objectives in the 1990-91 military assault on Iraq--that of establishing stable, profitable relations with capitalist regimes in the region, stretching from the Atlantic Coast of northern Africa to the Arab-Persian Gulf. Over the past decade the U.S. rulers have taken further steps to assert their position as the dominant imperialist power in the Middle East, at the expense of their imperialist rivals.

Some 3,000 U.S. troops are deployed on eight vessels in Yemeni waters. And more than 200 other U.S. military, FBI, and State Department personnel are stationed in Aden, the country's capital. The relatively few hotels in the city have been transformed into armed camps crowded with scores of Navy personnel, and plainclothes U.S. and Yemeni security forces on rooftops, in lobbies, and hallways.

"Yemenis around the country have started saying that the Aden Hotel, the headquarters for U.S. officials, has become an American military base," the Washington Post reported October 20. Supposedly to reduce the growing concern among the population that U.S. forces in the city are the advance guard of a foreign occupation, the U.S. Navy dispatched an amphibious ready group to serve as an offshore base, including two other ships, a helicopter carrier, communications, housing, and other facilities.

However, "if they are in the general port, some people will still think it's an American military base," said Mohammed Hatem Qadhi, managing editor of the Yemen Times. "It doesn't matter if they're on the land or on the sea."

The U.S. military has already begun training Yemeni soldiers for organizing a coast guard to patrol the more than 1,000 miles of the country's shoreline. Gen. Zinni said he sent U.S. special forces to conduct training for Yemeni military personnel on "counterterrorism" tactics and using weapons. Yemeni officers are also studying at military colleges in the United States.  
 
'Antiterrorist' campaign
After the October 12 blast, which killed 17 U.S. sailors, Washington launched separate "antiterrorism" investigations by the FBI, the Defense Department, and the Navy. Seeking to justify expanding U.S. military and counterintelligence operations in Yemen, Clinton administration officials have smeared the country as a "safe haven for terrorist groups."

While Washington has secured increasing cooperation from the Yemen government in its "antiterror" campaign, Yemeni officials have restricted FBI agents in the country from questioning individuals detained as suspects or witnesses. FBI director Louis Freeh flew into Aden October 19 to press the government to allow his spy agency to take part in interrogations. This was followed by a letter sent to Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh from U.S. president William Clinton and a public statement issued by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright demanding the Yemen regime allow the FBI access to those who are detained.

Saleh, who had earlier insisted the explosion was an accident, shifted his stance October 16, calling it a "planned criminal act." Two days later Yemeni government officials announced they had rounded up at least 1,500 people, including most of the workforce in Aden harbor.

Immigrants from Algeria, Egypt, and elsewhere were swept up in a broad assault on democratic rights. Native-born Yemeni workers have also been targeted by FBI and local security forces. "Pockets remain hiding dressed in Yemeni clothes," Saleh claimed.

One week after announcing the crackdown, Saleh appeared on television alleging that one of the suspects in the blast was an Egyptian man and that the explosion was organized by militants who fought in Afghanistan against Soviet forces there. White House officials claimed this allegation added to their speculations that Saudi Arabian businessman Osama bin Laden--dubbed the "FBI's most wanted terrorist suspect"--was somehow involved in the attack on the U.S. warship.

On Aug. 20, 1998, the Clinton administration ordered U.S. warships deployed in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea to fire 79 cruise missiles on Afghanistan and Sudan. It claimed the bombings were acts of "self-defense" against an "international terrorist network" allegedly organized by bin Laden. U.S. government officials claimed bin Laden was responsible for the August 7 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Meanwhile, as part of its attempts to press the Yemeni regime to bend to its imperial dictates, Washington has been pressuring Saleh to reverse his government's stance of opposition to the U.S.-led embargo against Iraq.

"I am under pressure and am criticized for my stand on Iraq," Saleh said. "Every time I receive a U.S. visitor or visit the United States, the first question I am asked is, 'Why did such and such a minister go to Baghdad? Why did this minister visit you from Baghdad?'"

In August 1990, the Yemeni government led by Saleh--along with revolutionary Cuba--was alone in abstaining in a vote by the United Nations Security Council that gave Washington political cover to use force to impose economic sanctions against Iraq. Less than a month later, tens of thousands of Yemeni workers were expelled from Saudi Arabia after their work permits were revoked in retaliation for Yemen's refusal to join the imperialist-led coalition against Iraq.

Over the past decade, in face of such pressure, the regime in Yemen has increasingly sought closer relations with Washington, following the course of other governments in the Arab-speaking countries of the region.