Gregory Johnsen writes: In Yemen, Obama appears to be headed down exactly the road he has been trying to avoid for the past two-and-a-half years: getting sucked into a war from which there is no easy exit.
Miller’s article in today’s Washington Post gives us some insight to the thought process that is making this drift possible.
“But officials said the campaign is now also aimed at wiping out a layer of lower-ranking operatives through strikes that can be justified because of threats they pose to the mix of U.S. Embassy workers, military trainers, intelligence operatives and contractors scattered across Yemen.”
In other words, the US has inserted, trainers, operatives and contractors into Yemen in an effort to erode the threat presented by AQAP, but those trainers, operatives and contractors attract attacks from Yemenis who are upset with a foreign military presence (no matter how small) on their land. And then when these trainers, operatives and contractors come under attack as they have recently in Aden and Hudaydah the US feels the need to respond and so it widens the target list even further – which then drives even more people into the arms of AQAP.
This is not going to end well. At this point, how does it end[?] The US has tried 2.5 years of drone and missile strikes in Yemen — and despite the individuals it has killed — AQAP continues to grow and appears just as eager and able to strike at the US. So, what happens, if a “missile surge” doesn’t work in Yemen?
What then does the US do?
I have argued for several years now that the US needs to draw as narrow of a circle as possible when it comes to targeting AQAP in Yemen. I worried then as I do now, that any expansion of targeting in Yemen would find the US in a war that it could never kill its way out of. And indeed that, I fear, is what is taking place right now. In an effort to destroy the threat coming out of Yemen, the US is getting sucked further into the quicksand of a conflict it doesn’t understand and one in which its very presence tilts the tables against the US.
Why is there this continuing obsession with terrorism and “attacks on the homeland”,when the USA refuses even to acknowledge global warming, destruction of rivers, forests, oceans, air? The increasing hopelessness of normal humans (not corporate persons, who manage well); warfare using half of the federal resources; prisoners tortured and increasing in number as draconian laws draw in more and more citizens; walls and fences to keep out “aliens”, and special treatment for those desperate enough to enter the USA ; killing of anyone the Leader wishes to remove makes the USA in need of a dose of rationality and (gasp!) even compassion..
Why the c0ontinuing obsession, because the so called experts are only good a playing the X-Box & computer games. They don’t have any skin in the game, the Generals don’t know what they’re doing, the Congress is rubber stamping the special interests. Perhaps, just perhaps, the U.S. Government should recruit the Israelis to do the fighting, considering it supports them with aid and weapons. Also, each and everyone of the civilian members of the various departments should don a uniform, go into combat, or lose their status, perks, pensions. The day is coming when such will happen, as well as grandfathering all those who have skipped out on all the fun. All things considered, there are enough individuals available to do this. Either that, or pull every American out of every country they are in, bring them home, put them to work rebuilding the “homeland”.