More Obama Foreign Policy Neglect: Yemen

[protectionist]

Has anybody noticed what's going on in Yemen ? This is big. Yemen's pro-west Hadi govt has collapsed under attack by Houthi-backed Shiite rebels. Yeah, it's that same story again > Shiites vs Sunnis. In this case though, as far as the US (and the West) is concerned there is a much more critical problem. That is that Yemen is also home to the very nasty al Qeada branch, AQAP (al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) AKA AQY (al Qaeda in Yemen).

If anyone doesn't know how bad these guys are, this was the home of the al Qaeda leader al Awlaki, who mentored US Army Major Nidal Hasan, resulting in the massacre of 13 soldiers in Fort Hood, TX, and the wounding of 35 others, before he was killed by a drone. They are also the ones who engineered the recent killings of 17 people in Paris.

This instability gives AQAP an opening to assert their influence and power. The intelligence sharing between the two nations and the United States’ ability to conduct drone strikes with impunity, even after civilian deaths, made Yemen a keystone to the U.S. war against AQAP. Given that the Houthis so far not have officially taken charge, making it unclear who will lead the country, Pentagon and intelligence officials could not say how they would have to readjust—only that they would have to.

Are you believing this ? On the Kelly File, former UN Ambassador John Bolton said "I'm speechless". He also said this is the result of years of withdrawl and neglect in the Middle East, and this is what you get.

So, here's my assessment. The Hadi govt wasn't quite as good as the Saleh govt before it, but it sure was a lot better than the fragmentation and chaos that is prevailing in Yemen right now. The big question is why hasn't Obama (Mr. No Foreign Policy) stepped up in this critical (World War III) segment, and sent US troops to help the Hadi govt remain in power ? Instead, our community organizer, tone deaf on world affairs, has sent 2 US Navy ships to help with the evacuation of US Embassy staff.

Does this president know there happens to be a world war going on right now, all over the world ? And that it's between the immoral, insane, Muslim jihadists vs the moral, sane world ? All this reminds me of a thing I read when Michelle Obama chimed in, when Barrack did something that was very pro-Islamist, and she said "Whose side are you on ?"
So, here we go shaking our heads again at another huge Obama foreign policy, blunder, neglect, inaction, detachment, ....at this point, I'm not sure what to call it anymore.

Yemen s Government Quits and Gives Al Qaeda An Opening - The Daily Beast

 

[Kosh]

See the far left would much rather watch the world burn than admit they are wrong!

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

I'm beginning to believe that the Ayatollah Obama knows exactly what he's doing regarding undermining this country.

 

[Kosh]

Carter must be tickled pink now as Obama surpassed him as the worst president ever in the modern era..

 

[RandomVariable]

Just came across this article. (I thought the third to the last paragraph I included here was amusing. Seems I remember another country who we can work with. hhmmmm)
Navy SEAL Light counterterrorism strategy in Yemen a fantasy TheHill
By Kristina Wong - 03/02/15 02:06 PM EST

A Navy SEAL captain and former commander of a special operations team in Yemen said in a recent interview that a U.S. counterterrorism approach there reliant on drone strikes and special operations raids is a "fantasy."

"The solution that some people champion where the main or whole effort is drone strikes and special operations raids — is a fantasy," said Capt. Robert Newson in a Feb. 27 piece in the CTC Sentinel, published by the U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center.

"It may be cheaper and safer, but without broader efforts it is like mowing the grass in the jungle," said Newson, who is currently a military fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "You cannot hold the jungle back with a weed whacker, you need to partner with the locals to get after their own problems."

While Newson did not name any names, the White House had maintained before the collapse of the Yemeni government in January that its counterterrorism approach in Yemen, which was mostly reliant on drone strikes, special operations raids, and a small number of U.S. forces on the ground to train Yemeni forces, was working.
...
"Al Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was taking over large swaths of the south and we thought we needed to be down there in a much more significant way. I think concerns about force protection, over increasing demand of advisors and about slippery slopes prevented a broader advise and assist effort that both DoD and the Embassy were advocating," he said.
...
He also said that while drone strikes were "incredibly important," they are "only a delaying action and everywhere I have been, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, every military person up and down the chain of command acknowledges this."
...
While the Houthis have said they are willing to work with the U.S., Newson said giving their "ideological underpinnings ... that’s going be a hard row to hoe." Part of the Houthis' slogan is "Death to America, death to Israel."

Newson said one solution to continue its counterterrorism efforts against AQAP could be to reach out to Sunni tribes in Yemen's south, who are resisting both the Houthis and AQAP.

"When national coherence is declining, like we are currently seeing in Yemen, it sure would be a strategic asset, even a game changer, to have a relationship with the southern Yemeni tribes," he said.​

 

[Wyatt earp]

This is not.reported on Msnbc so the sheep don't know