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The Future of U.S. Special Operations in Yemen

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Yemen has been one of those battlefields in the War on Terror that we never really committed many troops for, but the small presence we do have on the ground there is imperative to keeping our boots on the throat of our enemy—similar to other operations in the Philippines, Somalia, Pakistan, and North Africa.

U.S. SOF has been heavily involved in Yemen since 2002. Joint efforts between the CIA and SOCOM (read: JSOC) have led to almost 120 drone strikes with an estimated 700-900 militants killed—mostly members of one of the most well-financed, coordinated, and efficient al-Qaeda offshoots, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. This is the same group responsible for the recent Charlie Hebdro massacre in Paris, France.

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Comments

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  • Iassen Donov

    Called it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32000970

  • Minou_Demimonde

    Thank you, Iassen, for an excellent analysis. I don’t see this one getting any better soon. The Suni Shi’ia conflicts never work out well for anybody, and you combine influence from other countries in there who have their own agenda, and things get really, really messy. Then combine that with terrorism, and you get…well…Charlie Hebdo. I pray for our Operators on the ground, and for the people that they deal with. God keep them safe.

  • KoryTeneycke

    The Saudis have had frequent border skirmishes with the Houthis. I wonder if they will move in at some point to prevent Iran from controlling both sides of the Straits of Hormuz?

  • YankeePapa

    . ...Can't tell your players without a program.  But the program might as well be in Zulu...written in Chinese characters   . ...*IF* we can pull this off, we are going to have to "dance between the raindrops..."  I don't know if the administration is up to it... . -YP-

  • Waterborne

    Thanks for the update... Not to minimize the situation, but isnt this why we have a Navy (ie Aircraft Carriers)? I understand we are losing our HUMINT on the ground luxuries, and without that airstrikes are useless for the most part. But being that our mission there is limited to AQAP, could JSOC continue Ops with traditional Fighter Jets off the deck of a Carrier for now? And then once Yemen is secured by the diplomats, the Drones can return and continue the mission? Just a thought... And could this have anything to do with the US negotiating with Iran? Could allowing Yemen to be toppled by Iranian backed proxies be part of the Deal? Just a theory... Haha