The situation in Yemen as of March 2015:
The Yemen Model has been the rubric for the Obama Administration's attempts to neutralize foreign terrorist groups hostile to the United States.
Strategy[]
President Obama has often cited the Yemen Model as his vision for dealing with insurgent groups.[1][2]
Under the Yemen Model, the United States provides weapons, logistics, transportation and cash to a local proxy force, while committing no or few US troops.[3] The United States will also carry out air strikes and targeted killings of suspected opposition leaders. Occasionally, intelligence sharing and cruise missile strikes will also come from America.
Naming[]
Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, President of Yemen from 2012-2015 and America's man in Sana'a
The model was named after the conduct of the America's continuing conflict in Yemen. America needed to minimize the ability of the powerful Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula group to attack the American homeland, while at the same time, the Obama Administration wanted to commit as few resources to the fight as possible.[4] The US picked a proxy force (in this case, tribes allied with government leader Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi), armed and trained them, and used them as a ground force against Al-Qaeda factions in exchange for US aid to the regime, totaling more than $600 million.[5] The United States also conducted a significant low-tempo air and drone campaign starting in 2009. The US also occasionally launched commando raids inside Yemen and did base some military personnel in and around al-Annad air base in the south of the country.[6]
The Obama Administration has often defended its actions in Yemen as effective, and a model for other conflicts.[7][8][9]
Other American conflicts[]
During the early stages of the current American conflict in Iraq, Obama cited the Yemen Model as the inspiration for the conduct of the war.[10][11] He went so far as to mention Yemen as a model for surcess durring his first speech about the new war in September of 2014.[12]
The Administration has also defended its efforts in Somalia as an outgrowth of the strategy.[13]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-obama-iraq-yemen-20140622-story.html#page=1
- ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/20/four-months-ago-obama-called-yemens-war-on-terror-a-success-now-the-yemeni-government-may-fall/
- ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-yemen-model-wont-work-in-iraq-syria/2014/07/17/ba0ae414-0d18-11e4-8341-b8072b1e7348_story.html
- ↑ http://www.vox.com/2015/3/30/8309797/obama-yemen-model
- ↑ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/12/obama-s-yemen-model-for-the-war-on-isis-in-yemen-it-s-a-wreck.html
- ↑ http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/22/us-yemen-security-fighting-idUSKBN0MH0F820150322
- ↑ http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-obama-iraq-yemen-20140622-story.html#page=1
- ↑ http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/12/obama-s-yemen-model-for-the-war-on-isis-in-yemen-it-s-a-wreck.html
- ↑ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-continues-back-yemen-model-successful-counterterrorism/story?id=29901029
- ↑ http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-obama-iraq-yemen-20140622-story.html#page=1
- ↑ http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-continues-back-yemen-model-successful-counterterrorism/story?id=29901029
- ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/20/four-months-ago-obama-called-yemens-war-on-terror-a-success-now-the-yemeni-government-may-fall/
- ↑ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/29/white-house-calls-yemen-model-for-isis-fight-as-security-deteriorates/
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