Saudi Arabia begins military operations in Yemen, ambassador says
The State Department confirmed Wednesday that Mr. Hadi, once hailed as a key U.S. ally in the fight against Yemen’s significant al Qaeda presence, had fled the country by sea as the Houthi rebels and their allies advanced on the southern port city where he had taken refuge, captured his defense minister and seized the city’s airport.
“I don’t think the U.S. can deal with this and I think the fact that we first pulled out the embassy then pulled out special operators and drone fliers and all those guys says we know we can’t,” said Gordon Adams, a professor of international relations at American University. “We assumed we were going to be able to make things different, but we clearly can’t. This is not our fight.”
Mr. Adams said the situation in Yemen is similar to the fight in Iraq, where American forces got in the middle of a civil war in an attempt to bring stability to the region.
“My view is that this is not pretty, the American options are thin,” he said.
The Obama administration, Mr. Adams said, has yet to learn that American military support, economic assistance and security aide cannot solve internal political struggles that have been ongoing for decades.
“I think it’s hubris, we haven’t learned the limits yet,” he said. “Each episode teaches us that there are limits on what we can do.”
Right now, the Houthis controlling much of the north, including the capital of Sanaa, and several southern provinces. In recent days, they took the third-largest city, Taiz, as well as much of the province of Lahj, both just to the north of Aden, The Associated Press reported.
The AP also reported Wednesday that Houthi forces in Lahj had captured Mr. Hadi’s defense minister, Maj. Gen. Mahmoud al-Subaihi, and occupied the nearby al-Annad base, which the U.S. military had left.
The Houthis are allied with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the autocrat who ruled Yemen for three decades until he was removed amid a 2011 Arab Spring uprising. Some of the best-equipped and trained military and security units remained loyal to Mr. Saleh and they have helped the Houthis in their rapid advance.
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