U.S. Yemen evacuation weakens relations, terrorist fight: Mideast commander

U.S. Yemen evacuation weakens relations, terrorist fight: Mideast commander

Rep. Mac Thornberry, Texas Republican and chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, told The Washington Times that the U.S. departure from Yemen has “significantly harmed” U.S. counterterrorism operations in the country.

“We don’t have very many good options right now,” he said. “We don’t have a government to work with. The point is — this is going worse, not better, and it was held up as the model of what we wanted to do elsewhere.”

The capital of Yemen is controlled by northern-based Shiite Houthi militias, and the south of the country is being held by President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, who is trying to establish his own power base through a variety of tribes and militias.

Overall, the country is teetering on a verge of collapse, as U.N. political negotiations aimed at brokering a resolution seem to be getting nowhere. The Iran-backed Houthi minority dislikes Sunni-dominated AQAP but also doesn’t trust the U.S.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter assured senators that the U.S. military has been working with the State Department to preserve what it can of the “critically important” Yemen operation.

“We’re doing everything we can to combat AQAP in the face of what is going on with the Houthis and in the government of Sanaa,” Mr. Carter said during a March 3 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

As the U.S. continues to pursue drone attacks on al Qaeda operatives living in the region, security analysts question its overall success for stability in the region in the long run.

“When it comes down to dealing with counterterrorism you may, on occasion, be able to target some significant figures, but you’re not going to be able to suppress al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula simply by striking a few leaders,” said Anthony Cordesman, strategy chairman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Pentagon’s former director of intelligence assessment. “And your ability to target those leaders will be effective but lack the human intelligence and forward support you’ve had in the past. There is no short-term indication that you have a good, stable solution to counterterrorism in Yemen.”

via NorthEast Calling http://ift.tt/1CtD5SZ