Yemen Falls, Endangers Our Long War Strategy

For John, BLUF:  This loss of Yemen is not a good thing.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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From Time Magazine we have an article by Reporter Mark Thompson, headlined "As Yemen’s Government Falls, So May a U.S. Strategy for Fighting Terror".  Here are two excerpts:

“U.S. counter-terrorism policies in Yemen worked in the short term to keep al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from engaging in some attacks on the U.S. that al Qaeda wanted desperately to carry out,” former top Pentagon official David Sedney said Tuesday.  “But that short-term success was never accompanied by a long-term strategy, and the result has been horrific—a country that is now in chaos, dominated by groups with diverse ideologies but who share a common theme—they hate the U.S. and want vengeance for the evils they believe we have wrecked upon them.”

The U.S. anti-terror policy in Yemen of a “light footprint”—drones, special-ops units and training for local forces—isn’t working, Sedney says.  “The drone strikes and fierce attacks by U.S.-trained and -mentored Yemeni special forces have created hordes of new enemies for the U.S. who see us as supporters of a decrepit, oppressive, and corrupt leadership,” says Sedney, who from 2009 to 2013 ran the Pentagon office responsible for Afghanistan, Pakistan and central Asia.

Does anyone really care about Yemen?  I doubt it.  Can they even find it on a map?  But yet, it will be a place from which much mischief can flow.  And across the West.

Regards  —  Cliff