USS Cole Mastermind Back in Prison; Or Never Was Released; Or Something Like That

"Mastermind of USS Cole attack still in detention, 2 Yemeni government Web sites say" is how the International Herald Tribune headline reads.

So far, the Yemeni vote on whether or not Jamal al-Badawi was released from prison is two "no," and one abstention. SABA, Yemen's official news agency, didn't run the denial published by Yemen's Defense Ministry weekly newspaper (on September 26??), or the National Congress Party. The latter is the outfit that runs Yemen these days.

I've no idea who is more nearly truthful here.

My biased guess is that al-Badawi was released quietly, in the manner of Arafat's enlightened policy of publicly arresting terrorists, then privately releasing them. Such a policy, if carefully managed, is good for public relations without actually impeding terrorists' operations.

I suspect that the rulers of Yemen had no clue that infidels would ever hear of al-Badawi's release: or that they didn't realize that, even seven years after the Cole, some Americans still give a rip about who killed some of us.

More at

• "Jamal al-Badawi: Al Qaeda Leader,Cole Conspirator, and Free Man" (October 27, 2007)
• "Jamal Badawi Blew Up USS Cole, Yemen Released Him" (October 26, 2007)