Obama and His Generals Push for WAR with -- Yemen

09-16-2010 • FireDogLake.com

We learn for example that American commanders are describing the already amped up military aid of $150 million this yer as “piecemeal,” a stunning description for such a level of expenditure. And we learn that the new CENTCOM commander, Gen. James N. Mattis, is now on board, “embrac[ing] the plan ‘lock, stock and barrel,’” which was not certain when we originally discussed this new funding plan originally promoted by Gen. David Petraeus and Adm. Michael Mullen. Given that by all reports there are no more than 600 “hard-core members of the Qaeda branch” and that the Yemeni government consistently states that it is confident in its own ability to deal with them, this insistence on a massive increase in military funds and the growing presence of U.S. Special Forces in Yemen could not be more wrongheaded. Add in both the CIA’s “secret war” in Yemen and the plans noted in the NYT article “to allow American logistical advisers to accompany Yemeni troops in some noncombat roles,” and we all know how this ends. . . .