Tabnak – As the Saudi invasion to Yemen is entering its third year, new reports indicate that the US is mulling stepping up its operation in the war-torn country. Although Washington claims that its activities are aimed at combating Al-Qaida terrorists, it seems that the real reason behind the whole story is helping the Saudis out of the Yemeni quagmire.
Russian news agency "Sputnik” publishes a story today saying that US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to intensify the campaign against the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen.
This is while, over two days this past week, the US military carried out an unprecedented 30 airstrikes against the group's suspected positions in south-central Yemen. They were the first US attacks in the country since a January 29 operation in Al Bayda Province in which, along with al-Qaeda militants, 24 Yemeni civilians, among them children, and one Navy SEAL were killed. Several other US troops were injured and a damaged US aircraft had to be destroyed.
However, about a week ago, Trump once again insisted that the January raid in Yemen was a success and gathered vital intelligence against the al Qaeda affiliate there. According to "Reuters”, though Trump provided no specifics, a senior US official said earlier that the intelligence included the group’s explosives manufacturing, targeting, training and recruitment practices. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stressed that such insight was particularly important given the threat that AQAP has long posed.
In the same vein, it was reported last Friday that the US military had escalated its airstrikes against al Qaeda in Yemen, and had conducted over 30 airstrikes using armed Reaper drones and attack planes in the period between 1st to 3rd March.
Citing the number of airstrikes the "New York Times” notes that it was the most intense series of strikes ever against AQAP. In all of 2016, the United States conducted a total of 38 strikes in Yemen, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal.
The paper believes that the escalating offensive against Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen comes as a bit of a surprise, because President Trump pledged during his campaign to accelerate efforts against ISIS — mostly in Iraq and Syria — but during the first weeks of Trump’s presidency, the Qaeda affiliate in Yemen has emerged as the White House’s most vexing terrorism challenge.
In a separate report, New York Times said on March 2 that the White House is considering giving the Pentagon more independent authority to conduct counterterrorism raids as part of an effort to accelerate the fight against ISIS and other militant organizations.
The White House press secretary Sean Spicer, called the proposal "a philosophy more than a change in policy.” He said that "the protocol is not changing in terms of what has to be signed off,” but added that Mr. Trump believed "these are the experts in the field.”
However, given the wide-ranging change in US policies toward Yemen which is marked with more activism and military build-up in the country, some observers are suspicious toward the ultimate goal Trump pursues; suggesting that maybe it is in fact a step taken to increase American support of the Saudi coalition in Yemen.
In other words, it is completely possible that after targeting Al-Qaida terrorists, the US military diverts its attention toward combating the popular armed groups fighting the Saudis and operates in line with the Saudi wishes. Such a scenario not only would not help solve the Yemen crisis, but also, because of the multi-layered complexities on the ground, could engulf the country in an even wider conflict.
