The Pentagon announced Friday that U.S. forces are now engaged in Yemen, joining those in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Syria in combat in wars in the Middle East.
The deployment a few weeks ago was not preceded by a U.S. declaration of war, nor was it authorized by any act of Congress. The Pentagon spokesman called it "a very small team" that will be "providing intelligence support" and whose role will be "short term." We've heard that before.
The political and military situation in Yemen, a nation of some 25 million, the poorest in the Middle East, is especially complex. There are the forces of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Sunni. The president, chosen in 2012 in a single-candidate election, is Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi, also a Sunni, who shuttles back and forth between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, depending on how forces supporting him are doing. The principal challenge to these two Sunni rulers are Houthi Shiite rebels, their religious orientation having attracted the opposition of the Saudis and Persian Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates.
The political and military chaos in Yemen has also provided an opportunity for al-Qaida and the Islamic State to gain a foothold, and this presence and the alliance and the military sales relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia and the UAE has served as the basis for U.S. involvement. The Saudis and UAE have been bombing Yemen heavily for months now, supported by the United States with intelligence, spare parts, ammunition and, perhaps, pilot support.
Yemeni deaths since March from the war are estimated at 6,400. Another 2.8 million inhabitants have been displaced, adding to the refugee flow in the region and into Europe.
Into this maelstrom of conflicting formal and other military elements, President Barack Obama has sent U.S. forces, and is providing pro-Hadi and perhaps pro-Saleh forces as well as intelligence, drone, air and offshore U.S. Navy support.
It is hard to explain why America is playing the active role that it is now increasing in the war in Yemen. If there is a valid explanation, the public needs to hear it. Otherwise, the U.S. troops and other U.S. intervention in a war that seems to have nothing to do with American national interests should end immediately.
This editorial appeared on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The deployment a few weeks ago was not preceded by a U.S. declaration of war, nor was it authorized by any act of Congress. The Pentagon spokesman called it "a very small team" that will be "providing intelligence support" and whose role will be "short term." We've heard that before.
The political and military situation in Yemen, a nation of some 25 million, the poorest in the Middle East, is especially complex. There are the forces of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Sunni. The president, chosen in 2012 in a single-candidate election, is Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi, also a Sunni, who shuttles back and forth between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, depending on how forces supporting him are doing. The principal challenge to these two Sunni rulers are Houthi Shiite rebels, their religious orientation having attracted the opposition of the Saudis and Persian Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates.
The political and military chaos in Yemen has also provided an opportunity for al-Qaida and the Islamic State to gain a foothold, and this presence and the alliance and the military sales relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia and the UAE has served as the basis for U.S. involvement. The Saudis and UAE have been bombing Yemen heavily for months now, supported by the United States with intelligence, spare parts, ammunition and, perhaps, pilot support.
Yemeni deaths since March from the war are estimated at 6,400. Another 2.8 million inhabitants have been displaced, adding to the refugee flow in the region and into Europe.
Into this maelstrom of conflicting formal and other military elements, President Barack Obama has sent U.S. forces, and is providing pro-Hadi and perhaps pro-Saleh forces as well as intelligence, drone, air and offshore U.S. Navy support.
It is hard to explain why America is playing the active role that it is now increasing in the war in Yemen. If there is a valid explanation, the public needs to hear it. Otherwise, the U.S. troops and other U.S. intervention in a war that seems to have nothing to do with American national interests should end immediately.
This editorial appeared on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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