article_snippet: In Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh was regarded as an ally against al Qaeda.
article_snippet: Yemen was the epitome of this dynamic.
article_snippet: Ali Abdullah Saleh courted and was courted by American diplomats who turned a blind eye to Ali Abdullah Saleh transgressions, from arms smuggling to forcing new businesses to include Ali Abdullah Saleh as a "partner" so that Ali Abdullah Saleh could ensure a cut in the profits, while most Yemenis lived below the bread line.
article_snippet: : How we got here in Yemen .
article_snippet: Ali Abdullah Saleh's value was in engaging in the "war on terror" through allowing American drones to strike al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
article_snippet: The fact that Ali Abdullah Saleh used this engagement as an excuse to ask for military assistance for Yemen -- which in reality was used to equip what would become a private army -- was considered a small price to pay by the United States.
article_snippet: Libya saw hasty international military intervention without a vision for stabilizing Yemen, and today is falling apart.
article_snippet: Yemen was for a while thought of as an acceptable compromise because of the Gulf Cooperation Council's initiative that ended the uprising through a negotiated transition from Saleh to Saleh deputy Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
article_snippet: But the long-term implications for a negotiated transition from Saleh to his deputy Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi were ignored and Yemen today is paying the price.
article_snippet: Yemen summarizes all the ills of dictatorships and Yemen handling by foreign patrons.
article_snippet: the West was naïve to think that Saleh would simply accept Saleh removal from power.
article_snippet: In an ironic turn of events, Saleh has found in the Houthi rebels-- who had been marginalized under Saleh rule and became even more so under Hadi -- an unlikely ally to regain influence.
article_snippet: Saudi Arabia was also naïve in thinking that Houthi rule in Yemen Yemen would be better than having a political presence for the Muslim Brotherhood -- the Kingdom's staunchest political foe -- in Sanaa.
article_snippet: The Saudis and the West ignored the simmering sectarian tensions between the Zaidi Houthis and the Sunni tribes of Yemen, not to mention the popular anger at U.S.-led drone attacks that sometimes killed civilians.
article_snippet: The Saudis and the West also ignored Iran's rising ambitions; why would the Houthis -- Iran's allies -- limit The Saudis and the West to Yemen Yemen if The Saudis and the West could also expand southwards and rule Yemen?
article_snippet: The situation in Yemen today shows that even though the status quo under dictatorships may have appeared stable, beneath the surface volcanoes were preparing to erupt.