Rebels gain in Yemen

Remember how our fight against al Qaeda in Yemen was supposed to be the model for how we fight terrorists in the Age of Obama? I’m hoping that was just politics. According to the New York Times, the Houthis have taken control of much of Yemen’s third largest city, Taiz;

A senior security official in Taiz said the Houthis were flying troops and military equipment into the city’s airport, bolstering claims they were preparing a broader offensive.

Yemen has been gripped by unusually deadly and widespread violence for almost a week, raising fears that the impoverished country is headed inexorably toward civil war. Diplomats have all but admitted failure in brokering negotiations to end the conflict, while opposing forces on the ground accelerate their preparations for battle.

Yemen’s powerful Al Qaeda affiliate has capitalized on the political chaos to carry out attacks on the security forces.

The Associated Press reports that US military personnel have evacuated a key base used for drone operations in the region;

Yemen’s Shiite rebels issued a call to arms Saturday to battle forces loyal to the country’s embattled president, as U.S. troops were evacuating a southern air base crucial to America’s drone strike program after al-Qaida militants seized a nearby city.

The turmoil comes as Yemen battles al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the target of the drone program, and faces a purported affiliate of the extremist Islamic State group that claimed responsibility for a series of suicide bombings killing at least 137 people Friday.

I think we need a new model for the war to defeat these thugs. We probably need it pretty quickly and pretty violently.

Category: Terror War