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Omaha Steve

(99,059 posts)
Sun Jan 25, 2015, 03:51 PM Jan 2015

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

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Senators: More US special ops troops may be needed in Yemen (Original Post) Omaha Steve Jan 2015 OP
Obama: Yemen unrest won't halt drones jakeXT Jan 2015 #1
Message auto-removed Name removed Jan 2015 #2
We should withdraw from Yemen. Maedhros Jan 2015 #3
War mongering senators can fuck off. I don't care if they have Rs or Ds behind their names. Comrade Grumpy Jan 2015 #4
Sure, and when sending more troops doesn't work, he'll say "we shouldn't have sent them".... George II Jan 2015 #5
This is all about protecting Wellstone ruled Jan 2015 #6
I'm sorry, why would we send more ground troops to Yemen? TwilightGardener Jan 2015 #7
To do what? It's already a debacle. nt bemildred Jan 2015 #8
U.S. Troops would add to the general chaos daleo Jan 2015 #11
Yeah, you're right, we would fit right in. nt bemildred Jan 2015 #12
Feinstein and McCain... Jesus Malverde Jan 2015 #9
Here is the deal I would offer. JDPriestly Jan 2015 #10

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)
1. Obama: Yemen unrest won't halt drones
Sun Jan 25, 2015, 03:55 PM
Jan 2015


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)

 

Maedhros

(10,007 posts)
3. We should withdraw from Yemen.
Sun Jan 25, 2015, 04:14 PM
Jan 2015

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.

George II

(67,782 posts)
5. Sure, and when sending more troops doesn't work, he'll say "we shouldn't have sent them"....
Sun Jan 25, 2015, 04:21 PM
Jan 2015

....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)
6. This is all about protecting
Sun Jan 25, 2015, 04:27 PM
Jan 2015

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.

daleo

(21,317 posts)
11. U.S. Troops would add to the general chaos
Sun Jan 25, 2015, 11:14 PM
Jan 2015

But some people seem to like that, anyway. Chaos sells arms and keeps everyone off balance.

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts)
10. Here is the deal I would offer.
Sun Jan 25, 2015, 11:10 PM
Jan 2015

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.

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