War and Conflict Journal

Yemen has long been connected to the family of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist organization. The bin Laden family originated in Yemen prior to settling in Saudi Arabia and becoming wealthy in the construction business. Like Afghanistan and Somalia, other favorite bases for al-Qaida, Yemen status as a nation with a fairly weak central government and the frequent conflicts inside Yemen’s borders makes the poor Arabian nation a good location for al-Qaida to hide, recruit, and plan further attacks on the West and on others. In October of 2000, al-Qaida operatives rammed a small boat into the side of an American warship, the USS Cole, blasting a hole in the side of the ship and killing 17 American sailors. A year later, in October, 2002, al-Qaida attacked a French oil tanker, killing one, and causing the spillage of 100,000 gallons of oil. In September, 2008, al-Qaida attacked the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a in a car bomb attack followed by a gun battle with Embassy guards. The Yemeni government has worked with the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. in combating the al-Qaida presence in Yemen. In 2002, an American Predator drone controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency destroyed a vehicle in Yemen containing several al-Qaida operatives. Airstrikes against al-Qaida targets in Yemen in 2009, prior to the Christmas Day airliner attack, are believed to have been conducted with significant American aid, though officially the attacks were conducted by the Yemeni government.

In early January, 2010, General David Petraeus,..READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AT: http://www.historyguy.com/yemen_history_wars_politics.htm

 Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the North African branch of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two Italians on December 18 in Mauritania, according to the Al-Arabiya TV channel, which is based in Dubai.

The abductions of the Italians are similar to the way three Spaniards were seized  in late November, 2009   by al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.

 Over the past two year,  al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb claimed a series of attacks in Mauritania, including the assassination in late 2007 of four French citizens in Aleg (about 150 miles east of the capital of Nouakchott) and an American in June in Nouakchott.

George Stanley McChrystal (b. August, 14, 1954)
General Stanley A. McChrystal is an American army general who was named the commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, and assumed command of those forces in May of 2009.
General McChrystal is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. McChyrstal is a Green Beret and an Army Ranger, as well as a veteran commander in Special Operations, also known as “Black Ops.”
McChrystal served in Afghanistan as chief of staff of the military operations in 2001 and 2002. He also commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment and served tours in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Forces under General McChrystal’s command found and captured Saddam Hussein and with tracking and killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Mesopotamia (al-Qaida in Iraq).
General McChrystal replaced General David McKiernan…

http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/mcchrystal_stanley_general.htm

The leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, known by the names Abu Hamza al-Muhajer and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, and several of his top lieutenants have recently left Iraq for Afghanistan, according to group leaders and Iraqi intelligence officials, a possible further sign of what Iraqi and U.S. officials call growing disarray and weakness in the organization. It is believed that these al-Qaeda leaders see more prospects for success in Afghanistan and Pakistan than in Iraq.

Washington Post Article:

In 2007, 110 American troops died fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan . 925 Afghan government police also perished in the war.

British losses totaled 41 troops, while the Canadian military lost 30 troops in combat.

4,500 Taliban militants were killed in fighting,

Fighting in Afghanistan escalated in 2007, and the American casualty figures are the highest per year total since the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

110 US troops die in Afghanistan in 2007–Associated Press, Dec. 31, 2007

al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Mauritania’s military suffered three dead in a clash with Islamic rebels in the north, near the Algerian border. This clash comes soon after the murders of French tourists in Mauritania. The killers of the tourists are known to be connected to the rebel group formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). The GSPC recently changed its name to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and has declared its allegiance to the main branch of Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda.

Most mass media news outlets refer to the al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb as al Qaeda in North Africa.

See: Three Mauritanian soldiers killed in desert clash–Reuters UK, Dec. 27, 2007