There just aren’t enough countries in which the US military has boots on the ground, so it’s a relief that it’s added another to the list. We’ll all sleep better at night knowing our military now protects us from the danger presented by Yemen. From Claire Bernish at thefreethoughtproject.com:
As Americans swarmed theatres on Friday, setting record-breaking sales to watch Captain America; Civil War, without warning or fanfare — much less, debate — the Pentagon announced ground troops have already been deployed in Yemen, ostensibly to reinforce the ongoing battle against al-Qaeda in the war-ravaged country. In fact, as typical for modern undeclared ‘warfare,’ Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said Friday that to back Saudi and Emirati forces, U.S. troops have been on the ground for two weeks now.
“We view this short term,” the Washington Post said Davis told reporters.
According to the Wall Street Journal, officials claimed ‘about a dozen or so’ special operations forces had been deployed over the two-week period to assist the United Arab Emirates fighting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and had helped Saudi forces reclaim the port city of Mukalla.
“This is specifically about routing AQAP from Mukalla, and that has largely occurred, Davis said, noting that the mission isn’t one of “advise and assist,” but would instead “fall into the category of intelligence support.”
AQAP, Davis insisted from the Pentagon, “remains a significant security threat to the United States and to our regional partners, and we welcome this effort to specifically remove AQAP from Mukalla and to degrade, disrupt and destroy AQAP in Yemen.”
He emphasized al-Qaeda’s continuing threat to the region in destabilizing Yemen, in the group’s “using the unrest in Yemen to provide a safe haven from which to plan future attacks against the United States and its interests.”
In February 2015, the U.S. shuttered its embassy and abruptly evacuated personnel as the Yemeni civil war and other fighting quickly descended into chaos. Though officials have maintained a ‘tactical focus’ on AQAP, the news of troops on the ground comes as a bit of a surprise in the context of last year’s withdrawal.
However, operations by the U.S.-led coalition haven’t been free of controversy, despite the supposed previous absence of American troops. In March, the Saudis bombed a bustling marketplace in Yemen’s Hajjah Province — killing over 120 people, including 80 children, and wounding at least 80 others — using U.S.-supplied bombs.
Telling of the complex quagmire in the Middle East, the Yemeni civil war involves U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s fighting against an al-Qaeda faction, while at the same time, the Saudis back and support a separate al-Qaeda faction in Syria — Jabhat al-Nusra. Undeclared wars have allowed the U.S. to opportunistically support factions it otherwise claims to view as terrorists — all in the notorious and contentious name of regime change, whether or not that purpose is publicly stated.
To continue reading: As Captain America Captivated the US, Pentagon Quietly Admitted to Deploying Troops to Yemen
