French special forces on the ground in Yemen: Le Figaro

[noncliqer]

Source: Reuters

JUNE 16, 2018 / 6:54 AM

PARIS (Reuters) - French special forces are present on the ground in Yemen with forces from the United Arab Emirates, French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Saturday, citing two military sources.

The newspaper gave no further information about their activities. The Defence Ministry was not immediately available for comment, but its usual policy is not to comment on special forces’ operations.

A French parliamentary source recently told Reuters French special forces were in Yemen.

Forces from an Arab alliance entered the airport in Yemen’s main port city on Saturday, in the biggest battle of the coalition’s war against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-france/french-special-forces-on-the-ground-in-yemen-le-figaro-idUSKBN1JC099?il=0

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Okay, I don't know NEARLY enough about the details on the ground in Yemen to comment coherently on the situation there, but, as a Franco-American, I take every opportunity to point out that the French are not "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" like the FOOLS in the Shrub Administration insisted! If my posting of this news item is out of bounds, I shall certainly understand removal.

[Hortensis]

1. While looking for that, I found this on our special forces there.

Special operators are special forces under the U.S. Special Operations Command. Sounds like they're stretched a little thin in Yemen, but we only recently admitted we had anyone on the ground.

US Special Operators Scattered Across Yemen Might Soon Rely On Contractors To Rescue Them: With its own search and rescue units under strain, the US military continues to lean heavily on private firms for casualty evacuations.

The Pentagon is interested in having contractors provide two fixed-wing aircraft and two helicopters on call to rescue wounded American special operators in and around Yemen if necessary, as well as to perform various other missions. The announcement comes as it becomes increasingly clear that the U.S. military’s own aerial casualty evacuation capabilities are stretched thin and just months after it weathered serious criticism over relying heavily on private companies for these services following a deadly ambush in Niger. ...

American special operators publicly returned to Yemen in 2016 after a brief absence, ostensibly to support operations against Al Qaeda- and ISIS-linked terrorists. The new element, known officially as Special Operations Command (Forward) Yemen, is the one the contract announcement specifically names as needing the aviation support. Additional special operations forces have made short-duration raids into the country, as well.

The U.S. military has been actively engaged in various counter-terrorism and related training missions in the country since at least 2009. In 2015, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition repeatedly intervened in the country to halt the rise of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, but American personnel on the ground at present are not supposed to be engaged in any operations together with those forces.

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/20598/us-special-operators-scattered-across-yemen-might-soon-rely-on-contractors-to-rescue-them

We all know who the surrender monkey is.

[nitpicker]

2. Saudi-led forces seize rebel-held airport in Yemen's Hodeida

http://www.dw.com/en/saudi-led-forces-seize-rebel-held-airport-in-yemens-hodeida/a-44250169

Saudi-led forces seize rebel-held airport in Yemen's Hodeida

Soldiers from an Arab alliance seized the international airport in the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida on Saturday, officials loyal to Yemen's exiled government said. Aid workers and rights advocates said areas close to the airport remained the scene of intense fighting, which prevented thousands of people from leaving the Red Sea city, which has a population of 600,000.

Troops from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are leading ground forces in the latest assault to recapture the country's main gateway for food shipments, which began on Wednesday. UAE troops are being bolstered by militiamen and soldiers backing Yemen's exiled government, while Saudi Arabia is providing air support for what is being described as the biggest battle in the country's three-year civil war.
(snip)

[pazzyanne]

4. And yet, there is very little coverage of this in MSM.

The orange one is grabbing up all the air space on telecommunications venues and we are losing our eye to what is happening in the world. We are focused on what is happening right here in our country that has been taken over by the minions of evil sitting in the White House. Sad. I hope all those anti-globalizations nitwits are happy with what they voted into office, because I find it . . . deplorable.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

3. K&R. Good post, noncliqer - we need to be reminded...

of this war we are involved in. I for one am not pleased with the actions of our military in this conflict. The massive loss of life and property due to our involvement in the bombings is inexcusable, and they're saying the attack on this port will make things much worse.

People in remote regions of the earth who are starving to death or have no medical facilities have no forceful voice in the Western world.

[Jedi Guy]

5. Paraphrasing here...

But I think it was Rudyard Kipling who said "The business of the French is war, and they do their business." Those on the right who shit on the French conveniently forget that without them, the British almost certainly would have won the Revolutionary War. Then there was that Napoleon fellow, and a century or so later the French Resistance.

"Cheese-eating surrender monkeys," indeed.

[braddy]

6. If it is the 13th RDP, then I used to train with them in France, I loved being with them.

[Aristus]

7. Welcome to DU, from a fellow Franco-American.

Yeah, the whole cheese-eating surrender monkeys idiocy chapped my hide, too.

Anyone who ever read about the ferocity with which the Free French fought during WWII would never have come up with such an idiotic term.