Micah Zenko, Foriegn Policy: Make No Mistake — the United States Is at War in Yemen
The White House just doesn’t want to admit it.
The Obama administration revealed that the United States was participating in yet another Middle East military intervention via a press release from the spokesperson of the National Security Council (NSC). This time, it’s Yemen. Late Wednesday evening, March 25, the White House posted a statement declaring: “President Obama has authorized the provision of logistical and intelligence support to GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council]-led military operations.”
There was no prime-time address by the president or secretary of defense — the only two people in the national command authority who can lawfully direct the U.S. military to engage in hostilities. There was no statement from the Department of Defense, the federal agency responsible for those armed forces providing the support to the GCC, or comment from U.S. Central Command, the combatant command whose geographic area of responsibility includes the GCC members and Yemen itself. Rather, the NSC spokesperson simply let us know.
U.S. officials subsequently emphasized that aiding partner countries in their intervention into Yemen is simply “providing enabling support,” as Brig. Gen. Michael Fantini, Middle East principal director of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, told a House hearing last week. And the NSC made it clear that “U.S. forces are not taking direct military action in Yemen.”
Yet, make no mistake, the United States is a combatant in this intervention.
WNU Editor: I concur .... the U.S. is involved in another Middle East war .... and in this war there are no specific goals or objectives, no clear courses of action, and no idea on what the "end state" or exit strategy would entail. There has also been no debate or vote in Congress, no mention from the U.S. President or the Pentagon, and little if any media coverage on what the U.S. military and/or intelligence community may end up doing in Yemen. In fact .... I do not even know why we are involved in this fight.
5 comments:
WNU Editor,
The War Nerd has some Yemen posts up,
As for why the US is in this war, it's because the Saudi's are.
There has also been no debate or vote in Congress, no mention from the U.S. President or the Pentagon, and little if any media coverage on what the U.S. military and/or intelligence community may end up doing in Yemen.
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That is what happens when you allow a dictator to rule ..
As for why the US is in this war, it's because the Saudi's are
And the Egyptians. And the Jordanians, And the UAE. And Bahrain. And Kuwait. And Quatar. And Sudan. And now Pakistan...
However, that's only part of it.
A significant part of this is also keeping the access to the Red Sea (and the Suez canal) open.
I also suspect that it's also related to assuaging the Arabs over the Iran-nuke negotiations (we won't mention the swath or territory Iran's either taken or has influence over.)
Lastly, I also think it's part of an overall US foreign policy long-term objective of militarily disengaging from the Middle East, vis a vis providing support to what I suspect the administration will hope to be a relatively permanent pan-Arab/Muslim military coalition along the lines of the (rather dubious) African Union. Whether either will be successful is debatable.
"As for why the US is in this war, it's because the Saudi's are."
I would be wonderful if the Iranians to the eastern Seaboard of Saudi Arabia. that would work. They have owned it before. Don't know if they could keep it, but the probability of them being able to break it off is uncomfortably high.
Saudi Arabia & Iran are both enemies.
We have to pick our poison.
Saudi Arabia is not our friend. But is Saudi Arabia aligned with China or Russia better for the U.S.?
I would rather the Sunni and Shia fight until they have their Westphalia moment. But that is not going to happen. Islam might be considered an Abrahamic religion, but there are serious difference from the other ones that make Islam incapable or tolerance.
I don't know if you can manage a bleeding operation this big. It is not feasible. The CIA did not think they could win in 1979. They say Afghanistan as a bleeding operation.
U.S. support for Iraq in the 1980s could be seen as a bleeding operation.
I think we are way past that. We need to go for psychological operations that put a stake through the heart all while we are practicing our own taqiyya.
Psychological operation only need to show the truth. Juxtaposition is a helluva idea (truth hurts).
"A significant part of this is also keeping the access to the Red Sea (and the Suez canal) open."
Sea Lines of Communication (SLOC) are not important.
Ask any university ditz (male or female; professor or student). They will have lots of theories, but they mostly will not know the term or concept. I mean why would Alfred Thayer Mahan be on their reading list. He is just a DWEeM!
After all SLOC is just an artificial Western construct. Other nations don't believe in it except for the Chinese (string of Pearls), the Russians, the Iranians, ...
My head hurts, where is my bong ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_lines_of_communication
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_of_Pearls_(Indian_Ocean)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choke_point
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