YemenYemen upheaval hobbles U.S. counterterrorism efforts there
Following the abrupt resignation of Yemen’s president, prime minister, and cabinet after Iran-backed Shi’a Houthi rebels took over the presidential palace, the United States has halted some counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda militants operating inside the country. The move has dealt a blow to what President Barack Obama recently called a successful counterterrorism partnership between Yemen’s president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the United States. “The [Yemeni government’s] agencies we worked with . . . are really under the thumb of the Houthis. Our ability to work with them is not there,” said a senior U.S. official closely involved in monitoring the situation.
Following the abrupt resignation of Yemen’s president, prime minister, and cabinet after Iran-backed Shi’a Houthi rebels took over the presidential palace, the United States has halted some counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda militants operating inside the country. The move has dealt a blow to what President Barack Obama recently called a successful counterterrorism partnership between Yemen’s president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the United States. The strategy, which relied mainly on drone strikes, may be difficult to continue should an anti-American government come into power.
“Hadi was a unique figure who not only tolerated drone strikes, he welcomed them,” said Bruce Riedel, director of the Brookings Institution’s Intelligence Project. “I don’t think we’re going to have that kind of enthusiastic partner in the foreseeable future.”
The Washington Post reports that U.S. drones operated by the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command remain active over southern Yemen, where al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is based; but the Yemeni security services which provided much of the intelligence that supported the drone operations, are now controlled by Houthi rebels.
“The agencies we worked with . . . are really under the thumb of the Houthis. Our ability to work with them is not there,” said a senior U.S. official closely involved in monitoring the situation.
The drone strikes in Yemen have killed dozens of suspected AQAP fighters and leaders, but many U.S. officials fear that the country’s instability will give the group more room to plan and launch attacks on Western targets. “It would mean that AQAP would have a much freer hand in parts of the country,” said Lorenzo Vidino, author of Al Qaeda in Europe and an analyst at the Institute for International Political Studies in Italy. “That means more ability to plan attacks against the U.S.”
Al-Arabiya reports that Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said the disputed government in Yemen did not necessarily prevent the United States from engaging in counterterrorism operations. “We recognize we need to get a much better understanding of where things are going politically in Yemen before we can make any new decisions or move forward in any significant way on counterterrorism in Yemen,” Kirby said. He later added that it would be “wrong to conclude” the United States would ignore the terrorist threat in Yemen “or that we won’t take action if and when necessary.”
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said last week that the United States is still committed to its close counterterrorism cooperation with Yemen. “I don’t have any policy changes to announce at this point,” he told reporters. Yet it is uncertain whether further U.S. cooperation with Yemeni security forces would involve the Shi’ite Muslim Houthi rebel leaders, who oppose the United States, but have also declared themselves enemies of Sunni Islamist militant group AQAP. A senior U.S. official told the Post that the United States “wouldn’t be averse” to discussions with the Houthis on subjects including permission to continue operations against AQAP. “We’re not against the Houthi movement,” the official said.
