Aid to Counter Al Qaeda in Yemen Divides U.S. Officials

[Jeffersons Ghost]

WASHINGTON — Senior State Department and American military officials are deeply divided over the pace and scale of military aid to Yemen, which is emerging as a crucial testing ground for the Obama administration’s approach to countering the threat from Al Qaeda.

As the terrorism network’s Yemen branch threatens new attacks on the United States, the United States Central Command has proposed supplying Yemen with $1.2 billion in military equipment and training over the next six years, a significant escalation on a front in the campaign against terrorism, which has largely been hidden from public view.

The aid would include automatic weapons, coastal patrol boats, transport planes and helicopters, as well as tools and spare parts. Training could expand to allow American logistical advisers to accompany Yemeni troops in some noncombat roles.

Opponents, though, fear American weapons could be used against political enemies of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and provoke a backlash that could further destabilize the volatile, impoverished country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/world/middleeast/16yemen.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

[howard112211]

1. Propping up bad guys to fight our enemies is what brought us Al Qaeda.

Surely, doing the same thing again will lead to a different outcome :eyes:

[Jeffersons Ghost]

2. my sentiments exactly.