The truth is that Yemen has suddenly become center stage for the war on terror.  According to reports, "underwear bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has told FBI agents that there are many more just like him in Yemen who will strike America soon.  This has led many mainstream media outlets to now proclaim that Yemen is the true home of al-Qaeda.

In fact, it is being reported that a "regional wing" of al-Qaeda, known as "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula", has claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas Day attack.  American officials are saying that "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" has transformed itself from a regional threat into the terror network's most active affiliate outside Pakistan and Afghanistan.

So what does this mean?

Will the United States send large numbers of troops to assist the government of Yemen in their fight against al-Qaeda?

If the government of Yemen does not cooperate, could the United States invade Yemen just like they invaded Afghanistan?

The truth is that once the U.S. government identifies a terrorist group that they want to hit they don't let anyone stand in their way.

Much of the focus is now on radical Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is being called one of the key leaders of "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula".

If the government of Yemen does not cooperate with the United States in the apprehension of al-Awlaki, will that give the United States justification to conduct an armed invasion of Yemen?

Not that the groundwork has not already been laid.  The U.S. military is already on the ground in Yemen and is involved in the ongoing civil war there.

You see, for years Saudi Arabia and Iran have played out their long-term rivalry in Yemen.

The minority Shi'ite Houthi rebels (backed by Iran) have been fighting against the dominant Sunni majority in Yemen for years.

But over the past few months that fighting has spilled over into Saudi Arabia.

Back on November 5th, a large Saudi armored infantry force and tank column reportedly crossed the border into Yemen to do battle with Iran-backed Houthi rebels, but they apparently did not have that much success.

So reportedly the Saudi government began asking the U.S. for assistance.

On December 14th, Houthi fighters reported that U.S. fighter jets launched 28 attacks on the northwestern province of Sa'ada.

Subsequently, on direct orders from Barack Obama, the U.S. military launched cruise missiles against Houthi targets in Yemen.

According to reports, the U.S. military now has substantial assets on the ground in Yemen, although it is not entirely clear when they got there.

U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, the Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, admitted on Monday that the growing U.S. presence in Yemen includes Special Operations Forces, Green Berets, and American intelligence agents.

In addition, the Pentagon has provided Yemen with close to 70 million dollars in overt military and counter-terrorism assistance in 2009.

So what is next?

Will tens of thousands of U.S. troops be needed in Yemen to deal with al-Qaeda and/or the Houthi rebels?

If the government of Yemen does not cooperate with the war on terror will that mean that the U.S. will essentially invade Yemen?

The answers to these questions are not clear at this point, but there is one thing that is now very clear.

The United States is at war in Yemen and it will be for quite some time to come.

Just a few weeks ago, radical Islamic militants advanced to within 60 miles of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

Renewed fighting between government forces and extremist forces has left dozens dead in just the past few days.

General Petraeus is now saying that “the Pakistanis have run out of excuses” and that they are going to have to take the militants head on if they want their government to survive.

Even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is talking tough.  Last week she publicly accused the Pakistani government of “abdicating to the Taliban”.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Clinton made this stunning statement: "If the worst, the unthinkable, were to happen, and this advancing Taliban encouraged and supported by al-Qaida and other extremists were to essentially topple the government for failure to beat them back, then they would have the keys to the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan."

The majority of Americans have totally ignored what is going on in Pakistan, but the situation is becoming quite dire.  Just check out the following news report.....

 
The truth is that there is NO WAY that the U.S. is going to let Pakistan get taken over by radical Islamic forces.  Pakistan has a substantial nuclear arsenal, and while the U.S. would be quite hesitant to commit U.S. troops to Pakistan, the reality is that the U.S. government does not believe that they can afford to allow nuclear weapons to fall into the hands of the Taliban.

Previously, President Barack Obama had expressed a willingness to expand the U.S. presence in Pakistan, but he did not seem eager to commit U.S. soldiers there.

Shortly after his administration began, Obama claimed that "the safety of people around the world is at stake" and that it was important for the U.S. to maintain a strong military presence in the region.  Obama called the mountainous Pakistani side of the Afghan border "the most dangerous place in the world" and reaffirmed the U.S. view that in order for the war in Afghanistan to be successful, the U.S. military would have to go after al-Qaeda forces in Pakistan.

Obama also said this at the time: "Let me be clear: al-Qaeda and its allies -- the terrorists who planned and supported the 9/11 attacks -- are in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

This came on the heels of the announcement that 4,000 more U.S. troops will be sent to Afghanistan, in addition to the 17,000 increase that had already been announced.

Obama's plan also includes a goal of boosting the Afghan army from 80,000 to 134,000 troops by 2011.

The U.K. is also now offering its full backing for a comprehensive military campaign inside of Pakistan.

In fact, U.K. Defense Secretary John Hutton says that there must now be “an equal focus on both countries”. Current government plans call for the U.K. to send an additional 2,000 British troops to Afghanistan.

Up until now, most people in both the U.S. and the U.K. have mistakenly believed that their governments were only involved in two wars - in Iraq and in Afghanistan. However, the truth is that both governments have been deeply involved in a covert war against Islamic militants inside Pakistan that has been going on for quite some time now.

The reality is that U.S. special forces based in Afghanistan have been carrying out regular missions into Pakistan’s tribal areas since early September 2008. The New York Times even goes so far as to call what was happening as a "covert war run by the Central Intelligence Agency inside Pakistan" - and if even the New York Times is admitting it, then the U.S. government is not even really trying to hide it anymore.

But it is not just U.S. forces that are deeply involved in the covert war inside Pakistan. A stunning report has revealed that British agents colluded in the torture of Pakistani terrorism suspects by the ISI inside Pakistan. Officially the British government is "against torture", but apparently they have no problem letting ISI agents torture the living daylights out of Islamic militants while they watch.

In addition, it has now been revealed that the CIA was covertly using the Shamsi airfield in Pakistan (which is 30 miles INSIDE the Pakistani border) to launch operations against targets within Pakistan.

Wow.

How could the U.S. deny that they were at war inside Pakistan when they are using bases inside Pakistan to launch attacks on Pakistani soil? Well, with the newest announcements by Obama, the U.S. is not even trying to deny it anymore.

The U.S. is at war inside of Pakistan.

However, at the same time the U.S. has expanded their war against Islamic militants, the central government in Pakistan is seeking to appease them.

In a very curious move, the Pakistani government is promising to impose Islamic law and to suspend military operations against extremists in areas known to be havens for terrorist organizations.

Now why in the world would the Pakistani government be doing that?

It seems that the goals of the Pakistani government are directly opposed to the goals of the U.S. and the U.K. at this point.

The truth is that the Pakistani government tried to win over the Islamic militants through appeasement, but that only seemed to embolden them.  Pro-Taliban leaders in Pakistan now claim that they want to impose Sharia law on the whole country.

So what will come of all this?

Nobody really knows, but for now it seems as though the situation seems likely to become more volatile in the near future.

Just what the American taxpayers need - another costly war to pay for.

American voters believed that they were going to see less war with Obama in office, but now it seems as though the reality is that we are all going to see a lot more war.