Date: Thu Dec 4 10:20:08 2014
Yemen Exposes Difficulties in U.S. Strategy to Combat Extremist Militants
Some Challenges Similar to Those Faced in Combating Islamic State in Iraq,
Syria
By Maria Abi-Habib
Dec. 4, 2014 7:49 p.m. ET
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/yemen-exposes-difficulties-in-u-s-strategy-t
o-combat-extremist-militants-1417654170#livefyre-comment> 7 COMMENTS
The steady weakening of Yemen's pro-U.S. government over the past two months
has exposed some of the same difficulties Washington faces in its efforts to
battle extremist group Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
The Yemeni government, which had been a bulwark in the fight against the
country's potent al Qaeda offshoot, collapsed in September after
Shiite-linked rebels known as Houthis attacked the capital San'a. Since
then, Houthi rebels have taken control of towns and cities throughout Yemen
and gained political power while the rival al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula, or AQAP, mounted some of its deadliest attacks in an effort to
thwart the Houthi advance.
The Pentagon's strategy to counter Islamic State in Syria faces similar
problems to those confronted in Yemen.
The U.S. attempted to weaken AQAP by focusing on airstrikes in the absence
of a strong local power on the ground to partner with. But with only a
remnant of the Yemeni government remaining in power-President Abed Rabbo
Mansour Hadi -Washington is now at risk of losing a key counterterrorism
partner at a time when it is trying to contain a new threat in the region.
Despite years of training and hundreds of millions of dollars invested,
Yemeni troops have failed to develop into an effective fighting force that
could fend off the double threat of AQAP and the Houthis.
In contrast, the Houthis, who have said they receive weapons and training
from Shiite Iran, managed to bring down the government and then go on to
capture more territory in the predominantly Sunni country. Along the way,
they succeeded in holding back AQAP advances.
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/bomb-explodes-outside-iranian-ambassadors-re
sidence-in-yemen-1417597915> AQAP claimed responsibility for a deadly car
bombing that targeted the Iranian ambassador's residence in San'a on
Wednesday. A security guard and five civilians were killed, security
officials said. Hossein Niknam, Iran's new ambassador who is seen as a close
ally of the Houthis, was unharmed.
Since September, the Houthis have overrun territory in the northern
provinces of Amran, Jawf and Hajjah and the central provinces of Ibb and
Dhamar while continuing to control the capital.
Additionally, the rebels took over much of Hodeidah province in the west in
October, including the provincial capital, which is an important Red Sea
port. U.S. and Yemeni officials have warned in the past that the Houthis
have their eye on the Bab el Mendeb port in the same province, a narrow
strait through which some 4% of the world's oil supply passes.
In October, an offensive by the Houthis followed by U.S. airstrikes in
November routed AQAP from Rada, a city overrun by AQAP in southern Bayda
province in 2012.
The struggles to build up a ground force in Yemen to underpin airstrikes
against extremists resonate particularly in Syria, where the U.S. and its
allies are struggling to find a local partner. Absent an effective ground
force in Syria, the U.S. is relying heavily on airstrikes to rout Islamic
State there. That tactic in Yemen had kept AQAP at bay since 2011, but has
so far failed to defeat the force.
Since the Houthi takeover in September, AQAP has increased attacks on
government installations and the capital, Yemeni officials said.
A senior American official urged taking a longer view with regard to
stabilizing Yemen.
"We can help build up a functioning state inside Yemen, but we need to be
patient. This is not going to be a short-term project," the official said.
"But unfortunately with the political and economic insecurities, especially
over the last months, al Qaeda has been able to mount a bit of a comeback,
which is unfortunate."
A challenge confronting current counterterrorism strategy to fight AQAP in
Yemen and Islamic State in Syria is war fatigue after long commitments of
U.S. troops and funding to the wars in Iraq and Syria. President
<http://topics.wsj.com/person/O/Barack-Obama/4328> Barack Obama campaigned
on ending those wars and bringing U.S. troops home. U.S. airstrikes have
become a centerpiece of the
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204652904577193673318589462>
president's counterterrorism strategy.
Yemen's government has received roughly $950 million in U.S. military,
economic and humanitarian assistance since 2011. Since late 2011, the U.S.
has increased its assistance, providing $346 million for security, up from
$288 million from 2009 to 2011, according to the State Department. Another
$249 million has been given for political and economic development and $357
million in humanitarian aid. Even with U.S. support, Yemen's government and
its forces were deeply unpopular and long struggled to extend their
authority across the country.
By contrast, the U.S. spent $20 billion in Afghanistan in 2010-2011 for
military training and equipment on top of many billions more in
humanitarian, economic and political aid.
"Without a ground force to partner with, airstrikes will be hamstrung," said
Jordan Perry, a Middle East analyst with research firm Maplecroft. "There
are very few moderate actors that Washington could partner with against AQAP
in Yemen. There are the Yemeni security forces. Their legitimacy is limited
and much of the country is beyond their scope, so they aren't effective
partners."
In one reflection of the difficulties the U.S. is up against on the Syrian
front against Islamic State, Washington has toned down calls for President
Bashar al-Assad to resign. Some in the Obama administration wonder privately
whether his Shiite-linked regime backed by Iran is the only force capable of
defeating Islamic State. American officials say they are disappointed with
the fragmentation of the Free Syrian Army, the Western-allied opposition
force fighting both Islamic State and the Assad regime.
In Iraq, the U.S. has propped up the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad
with airstrikes against advancing Islamic State forces. But the Sunni
militants of Islamic State flourished in western Iraq in part because of the
Baghdad government's weakness and discriminatory policies toward the
country's Sunni Muslims.
"There's unfortunately a tendency in U.S.-the effects of which we're seeing
in Iraq and Syria-where Americans expect instant gratification," said the
senior U.S. official. "But it doesn't work that way."
-Hakim Almasmari contributed to this article.
Rescuers search for survivors at the residence of the Iranian ambassador in
the Yemeni capital of San'a after a car bomb attack that killed six people
on Wednesday. ENLARGE
Rescuers search for survivors at the residence of the Iranian ambassador in
the Yemeni capital of San'a after a car bomb attack that killed six people
on Wednesday. Reuters
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