Yemen government collapses

While everyone is focusing on the President’s big speech last night (that I completely ignored), one of our allies in the war against terror is struggling to survive the night. In Yemen, Shiite rebels have overrun the capitol and are shelling the executive residence, according to Fox News;

The Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, took over the capital Sanaa in September as part of a long power struggle with Hadi and effectively govern several other cities as well.

It was unclear whether they intend to seize power altogether or allow the internationally backed president to remain in office.

In a lengthy speech aired by the group’s TV network, rebel leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said that “all options are open” and that the escalation “has no ceiling” if Hadi does not speed up implementation of a U.N.-brokered peace deal.

That deal would grant the Houthis greater power over a commission that has been assigned to draft a new constitution and outline a new federal system. Critics of the Houthis say they are using the U.N. deal as a pretext to seize more power.

Reuters recounts President Obama’s words in September;

President Barack Obama cited Yemen as a terrorism success story in a September speech outlining his strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which involves targeted U.S. strikes on militants with the cooperation of a friendly ground force. Obama called it an approach “that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.”

But 10 days after the president uttered those words, the Iran-backed Houthi militia swept into Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, seizing a share of power. On Tuesday, those same rebels seized the presidential palace and shelled the president’s residence, leading Yemeni officials to warn of a coup.

It’s like the kiss of death – every time the president talks about an ally and their successes, they run into trouble at home.

Of course, the folks who killed 13 Parisians last week claim they were supported by the local Yemeni al Qaeda branch, despite the fact that this White House has been droning the crap out of them.

According to CNN, things are pretty confusing there today;

One rebel unit with a tank stood guard outside President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi’s residence in Yemen’s capital on Wednesday, amid uncertainty over who is in control of the volatile nation after two days of turmoil.

One militiaman told CNN that “the people” are now president of Yemen.

Hadi is said to be inside the residence but it is unclear what is happening inside, or whether he has any loyal guards with him.

A senior leader of the Houthi resistance movement, Abdullah Shabaan, told CNN earlier that the “President’s personal security left him, which forced us to gather hundreds of fighters from our security to ensure he is safe.”

But don’t worry, the UN is on the job;

Members of the U.N. Security Council were briefed by the U.N. special adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, and later issued a statement expressing their concern about the crisis.

I’m sure their concern will bear fruit in regards to the coup very soon. Any minute now.

Category: Terror War