Obama’s ‘Yemen model’ doesn’t work in Yemen — it’s unlikely to work in Iraq

PRI reports: President Barack Obama sees success against al-Qaeda in Yemen, and wants to use the same model to overcome ISIS in Iraq.

Middle East watcher Gregory Johnsen thinks that’s a bad idea; he’s not even sure what Obama is seeing in Yemen should be called success.

“It just seems that the US doesn’t have a very good grasp of what’s happening on the ground in Yemen or what’s happening on the ground in Iraq, or how to solve either of these problems,” he says.

Johnsen says the US military strategy used to hunt al-Qaeda members in Yemen has been ineffective, or even counterproductive.

“About four-and-a-half years ago, when the US started this program of drone strikes, special forces advisors on the ground, al-Qaeda in Yemen numbered about 200 to 300 people. Now today, there are several thousand people. So what the US is doing in Yemen isn’t working.” [Continue reading…]

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One thought on “Obama’s ‘Yemen model’ doesn’t work in Yemen — it’s unlikely to work in Iraq”

  1. josieamilburn

    I just finished scrolling down on this day , through a list of at least 10 articles on Iraq, Sunni, Shia, ISLI, Middle East et al
    and I don’t think anyone knows what is really going on in the Middle East. It is really a picture of the blind man describing the elephant. What drives the man on the street is one thing, quite apart, from the actions of the local politicians and the outside interests.

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