Senators: More US special ops troops may be needed in Yemen
Source: AP-Excite
WASHINGTON (AP) Two influential senators are calling on President Barack Obama to send more U.S. ground troops to hotspots around the Middle East.
The suggestion by Republican John McCain and Democrat Dianne Feinstein is a direct challenge to the president, who has said he doesn't want to increase the U.S. military presence in Yemen despite the deteriorating security condition in that country.
McCain a Republican who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee and Feinstein tell CBS' "Face the Nation" that special operations forces in particular may be necessary to blunt Iranian influence in Yemen and elsewhere.
Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, says the U.S. needs more human intelligence in the region and to not rely so heavily on intelligence gathered by technical means.
Yemeni protesters burn representations of American, French and Israeli flags during a demonstration to show their support for Houthi Shiite rebels in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. Thousands of protesters demonstrated Friday across Yemen, some supporting the Shiite rebels who seized the capital and others demanding the country's south secede after the nation's president and Cabinet resigned. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150125/us--united_states-yemen-congress-984632fb1a.html
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)What that strategy relied on, however, was a strong partnership between the United States and the existing government in Yemen, led by Hadi. Hadi reorganized Yemen's military to better go after AQAP, a strategy that worked for a time. But the plan was waylaid when resources were diverted to battle the militant Houthis, a group of Shiites who say they feel marginalized in the majority Sunni country.
Obama was confident on Sunday that U.S. anti-terror efforts would continue in Yemen.
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/25/politics/obama-yemen/
Response to Omaha Steve (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)All we were doing there was propping up dictatorial regimes and creating anti-American sentiment among the Yemeni people. It's time to leave.
Yeah, I know we won't. But we should.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)....we've seen this over and over again. They say "withdraw our troops" and then complain that we need more.
I think this is a McCain, republican setup - when it doesn't work this time around it'll be a campaign issue next year - "another failed Obama, Democratic policy"!!
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)the Saudi Royal Family and nothing else. Our country has been playing this game with the Saudi's since the late fifties and now we see how out of control things have gotten. Two billion dollars in a suit case in the middle of the desert and the whole world suffers. Thanks Ike,your idea really worked out great didn't it.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)They are in total flux right now.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)daleo
(21,317 posts)But some people seem to like that, anyway. Chaos sells arms and keeps everyone off balance.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Lovely couple of neocon stooges, hope they're baking some cookies.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)We put boots on the ground in Yemen provided that Congress first passes Obama's proposals in his State of the Union speech including but not limited to:
free community college education for all qualified Americans;
tax credits and other assistance for pre-school education for all American children;
return to higher levels of food stamp assistance;
no undermining of the ACA;
all of the President's other proposals, and
we raise the taxes on the highest percentage of Americans by raising capital gains taxes on them and taxing stock market transactions plus we require all companies doing business in the US directly or indirectly in any capacity to report on their taxes and pay any amount in our taxes on business done in the US allowing them tax credits only for the amounts of actual taxes they pay in other countries. (That's complicated, but it could be worked out. If the companies can afford tax attorneys and accountants to advise them on how to avoid American taxes, they can afford to pay those same advisers to fill out tax forms that reveal how much money they pay in taxes in all countries in the world and how much they earn in the US.)
So, I would invite the members of Congress who want war in Yemen and Iran and everywhere else to sit down and explain how they plan to pay for it and what they are willing to give Americans in exchange for the mercenaries for Yemen.