but only the male children get to "play games, ride bikes, and cause mischief", apparently. It is really exteremely offensive to have people try to treat an all-male photo essay as if it shows how much commonality we have with a country.

thank you for such nice photos. shows the real face of a country where few may have gone extreme.

nice architecture.

Eighteen pictures of Yemen, and only one passing reference to qat (khat)? That's not Yemen -- Yemen revolves around qat.

TERRORIST ATTACKS CLINTON STOPPED.
Just for the record, under Richard Clarke's leadership as Czar of Counterterrorism:.
? CLINTON developed the nation's first anti-terrorism policy, and appointed first national coordinator of anti-terrorist efforts.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold the Al Qaeda millennium hijacking and bombing plots.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to kill the Pope.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up 12 U.S.  jetliners simultaneously.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up UN Headquarters.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up FBI Headquarters.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Boston airport.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up Lincoln and Holland Tunnels in NY.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the George Washington Bridge.
? Bill Clinton stopped cold a planned attack to blow up the US Embassy in Albania.
? Bill Clinton tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al Qaeda through preemptive strikes (efforts denounced by the G.O.P.).
? Bill Clinton brought perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing and CIA killings to justice.
? Bill Clinton did not blame the Bush I administration for first World Trade Center bombing even though it occurred 38 days after Bush left office.  Instead, worked hard, even obsessively -- and successfully -- to stop future terrorist attacks.
? Bill Clinton named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism.
? Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to tighten airport security.  (Remember, this is before 911) The legislation was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the airlines.
? Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to allow for better tracking of terrorist funding.  It was defeated by Republicans in the Senate because of opposition from banking interests.
? Bill Clinton sent legislation to Congress to add tagents to explosives, to allow for better tracking of explosives used by terrorists.  It was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the NRA.
? Bill Clinton increased the military budget by an average of 14 per cent, reversing the trend under Bush I.
? Bill Clinton tripled the budget of the FBI for counterterrorism and doubled overall funding for counterterrorism.
? Bill Clinton detected and destroyed cells of Al Qaeda in over 20 countries.
? Bill Clinton created national stockpile of drugs and vaccines including 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine.
? Of Clinton's efforts says Robert Oakley, Reagan Ambassador for Counterterrorism: "Overall, I give them very high marks" and "The only major criticism I have is the obsession with Osama".
? Paul Bremer, current Civilian Administrator of Iraq disagrees slightly with Robert Oakley as he believed the Bill Clinton Administration had "correctly focused on bin Laden.
? Barton Gellman in the Washington Post put it best, "By any measure available, Bill Clinton left office having given greater priority to terrorism than any president before him" and was the "first administration to undertake a systematic anti-terrorist effort".

Great take on Yemen. I've never really thought about it, but it really is a beautiful place. I wish more people would see the Middle East like this. The photo of Shibam is particularly magnificent. Were these photos post-processed in any software like Adobe Lightroom 2?

The wife and I were just talking about the usual 'group think' mode that policy hawks subject the public to when gearing up for war.

First there's the attack by crazed lunatics that certainly don't represent the majority of the nation. Then there's the demonizing of the nation as a harbor for evil doers. Then there's the hypocritical exposes on the oppression of women (where was your regard for the women BEFORE you needed grounds for war?). And finally there's 'shock and awe.'

I don't think this President wants to sell us that bill of goods, and I'd like to believe the American public is more savvy than we were a decade ago. If I were a betting man I'd side with the first over the second.