>>
as
pete williams
just touched on,
yemen
has now emerged as a terror hotspot as the investigation into this failed attack unfolds. nbc's chief foreign correspondent
richard engel
has spent a good deal of time there. good morning. good to have you in the states.
>>
thanks very much. good to be here.
>>
radicals from
yemen
have been involved in terror attacks in the past, in
2008
against the
u.s. embassy
,
2000
, the "
uss cole
." where does it rank in your opinion for the list of hotspots for terrorism?
>>
and the list is fairly long. there are, according to the u.s., about 60 countries where
al qaeda
has operatives.
yemen
is fairly high on the list, and the yemeni government recognizes this, in part because it's a very weak government and the government simply doesn't have control in some of the outlying areas. it's a traditional homeland for radicals, in some ways. it is this part of the
arabian peninsula
where this movement began.
>>
we know that the pentagon in the last year or so spent about $67 million to help the government there in its counterterrorism efforts. do we know at all what's going on covertly in that country?
>>
a lot is going on covertly, and there has been, particularly since 9/11, intense cooperation between the fbi and yemeni government. there are operations that took place over the last two weeks, two major
air strikes
, and i was told by both
u.s. military
and yemeni officials that those operations are not over and that we are probably going to see more strikes.
>>
when you hear people starting to talk about the fact that we should look for some targets to strike there now as a retaliatory action against or, you know, in response to this failed bombing, what is your feeling about that? what are the dangers in an expanded
u.s. military
presence in
yemen
?
>>
that you just create more enemies. it is a country that traditionally does not welcome outsiders. it's a very
tribal society
. and that is one of the reasons that it's so difficult to govern. you have these small tribes that are well armed. there are about three weapons for every person in
yemen
. and these tribes don't listen to the government, they don't want outsiders, they will not
welcome air
strikes, particularly if they are seen to be carried out by the americans. it could just make it worse. what you need is intelligence-sharing, not just this gut reaction to go blow something up.
>>
generally speaking, when you spent time there, what is the feeling of the citizens of
yemen
toward the
united states
?
>>
it is a
wonderful country
, and what -- you shouldn't just demonize it. i think a lot of people want to take out the map and take out a sharpie and put an "x" on it, oh, pakistan, "x,"
yemen
, "x." it's not like that at all. the people are very friendly. it is a traditional society. they embrace their traditions. sidon's one of the oldest cities in the world and if you see pictures of it, it's stunningly beautiful. it just has this problem. there are remote villages where the government can't reach, is trying to reach, and pretty much anyone can hide out there.
>>
just quickly in the time i have left, you broke a report on "nightly news" last night concerning afghanistan and the readiness of the
afghan military forces
. a key element to the
u.s. forces
being able to leave. what's the headline of that report?
>>
the headline of that report, which was prepared to brief the top commanders of the
u.s. military
, is that the afghan
security forces
are in terrible shape, that they are so full of corruption and nepotism that unless some immediate changes are made at the top leadership, that no amount of foreign support, u.s. support, can turn the afghan
security forces
around.
>>
that's horrible news for the u.s. effort there.
>>
it is very difficult, because training those forces is the key to the u.s. exit.
>>
richard engel
in new york with us for a change.
>>
exactly.
>>
good to have you here. happy holidays.
>>
you'll have to come back to afghanistan.
>>
yeah, i will, soon. let's
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