From Yemen to Djibouti via Bin Laden

Recently, we along with many others have been discussing the new African Command (AfriCom) of the US military. It’s temporary quarters is here in Stuttgart, Germany. Yet, a rather interesting geopolitical development could be threatening its mission, namely a bridge linking Yemen and Djibouti.

Where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, a mere 17 miles separates the so-called Horn of Africa from the Middle East. According to the Jamestown Foundation, to top things off, the bridge is being constructed by Tarek Bin Laden, Osama bin Laden’s half brother. The article goes on to note his shady background involving Islamic Charities that were involved in less than charitable activities as well as his obviously being relation to a wanted terrorist. However, it fails to mention that the bin Laden family is simply one of the largest and richest construction companies in the region lessening the importance of this. Would linking the two countries really be as dangerous as the authors believe. At the moment, French, German and American soldiers are all stationed and operating in and from Djibouti as part of Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA). Their mission includes monitoring traffic in the HOA area as well as anti-terror operations on the mainland with a focus on Somalia.

Given that any number of small boats can and do cross from Africa to the Yemeni coast daily with both licit and illicit goods, it seems doubtful that a bridge, something far easier to control, would be a real challenge to international anti-terror operations in the region. In fact, given both countries’ worries about radical Islam, border control on the bridge would likely be especially tight. In addition, one would imagine that DHS, for example, would provide plenty of training, support and technical equipment to help monitor the bridge as they’ve done in countries like Georgia.

Lastly, such a bridge could in fact be far more positive than Jamestown notes as it would provide an official conduit through which legitimate trade can flow and thus a source of new tax revenue for each government. While illicit trade will no doubt continue to occur, helping to channel legitimate trade and movement through a bridge could bring more “transparency” to trade between the HOA and Yemen as well as increasing the overall volume. Although I highly respect Jamestown, I have to humbly disagree with their take on this development and fail to see any deeper significance with regard to who is constructing it. Readers?