Illegal/Unauthorized: US Fighting in Yemen, Alongside al Qaeda?

By
Jim W. Dean and Gordon Duff
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5
3932

A team of US Army Green Berets have been covertly aiding Saudi Arabian forces in their fight against Yemeni Houthi rebels, according to New York Times sources.

A team of around 12 Green Berets arrived at the Saudi border with Yemen last December, despite Washington officially remaining uninvolved in the conflict. The commandos are reportedly helping Saudi forces to “locate and destroy” ballistic missiles and launch sites, which are used by the Houthis to strike targets within Saudi Arabia.

Sources also told the newspaper that the US troops are training their Saudi counterparts to secure the border with Yemen. There is no indication yet that their mission has taken them across the border and into Yemen itself.

Officially, American involvement in the conflict is limited to logistics and intelligence sharing. According to official figures, there were just over 500 US military personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia as of December last year.



The conflict between the Houthis and Saudi forces is a regional one, and the Houthis pose no direct threat to the United States and have not been classified by the American government as a terrorist organization.

Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its heavy-handedness in Yemen. Last month, an airstrike on a Yemeni wedding party killed more than 20 people and wounded dozens of others, apparently using US-made munitions. In the early stages of the conflict, one-in-three Saudi airstrikes in Yemen hit civilian targets, according to figures from the Yemen Data Project; and according to the UN, more than 10,000 civilians have died since fighting began over three years ago.

The deployment of Green Berets, the Army’s special forces, seems to mark a deepening of the already friendly military relationship between the US and the Saudis. President Donald Trump visited Riyadh last year and signed an almost $110 billion arms deal with the kingdom. This March, the State Department approved the sale of an estimated $670 million worth of anti-tank missiles to Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Army soldiers. © Issei Kato
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While US has not become directly involved with the Saudi campaign thus far, it has conducted attacks of its own in Yemen. Last year, the US launched over 130 airstrikes inside the Arab state, mostly targeting Al-Qaeda and Islamic State fighters.

Yemen has been consumed by civil war since 2014. In March 2015, Houthi rebels overthrew the government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi. A Saudi-led coalition launched a campaign of airstrikes in response, aiming to restore Hadi’s rule. The Houthis have since launched missiles into Saudi Arabia, targeting the capital, Riyadh, with the latest incident in March this year.

The Houthis are allied with Iran, and allegedly use Iranian weaponry – a charge denied by Tehran. Last Sunday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Riyadh and used this fact to hit out at Iran, again demonstrating the Trump administration’s hardline view of the country.

“Iran destabilizes this entire region,” he said. “It supports proxy militias and terrorist groups. It is an arms dealer to the Houthi rebels in Yemen.”

With the deployment of the Green Berets, the US shadow war in the region looks to be expanding. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in Yemen, described by the UN as the worst such crisis in the world, drags on.

More than 22 million people in Yemen are in desperate need of aid and protection. Many of the population are starving, clean drinking water is in short supply, and the country is at risk of a cholera epidemic.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Hey VT editors, did you know that Facebook is blocking the sharing of this article with the notation, “Your message couldn’t be sent because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive.” Translation – truth is hate speech and abusive. It is very scary indeed how FB censors and pushes only what suits their agenda. Also noting that Google’s Alphabet/Jigsaw ” tech incubator” with its mission of “using technology to affect geopolitical change” does the same.

  2. Incredible that the MSM won’t even mention this war that has been going on. Nikki Haley went to the UN discussing how we won’t allow ‘chemical attacks’ on innocent people KNOWING it wasn’t the Assad gov’t BUT has no issues when we are killing innocent lives in Yemen. Where is the outrage?!! We (USA) continue to support evil regimes such as Israel and Saudi Arabia while destroying lives in other nations by overthrowing their governments. The destruction we caused in Iraq and Libya, the people will never recover, and now we want to do the same in Syria, Lebanon, and Iran all for OIL and GREED.

    • Also interesting that Facebook is blocking the sharing of this with the notation, “Your message couldn’t be sent because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive.”

  3. It is difficult to find words in polite English to describe the obscenity of the totally corrupt U.S. government aiding those living in the dark ages, chopping people’s heads and limbs off. Obviously those running our government have no conscience, no moral values whatsoever. They have no compassion for ordinary human beings. They worship a five letter obscene word MONEY yet they disrespect it in our own country by wasting it in unspeakable ways leading to an impending financial meltdown which could come at any instant without warning. Frankly such a meltdown would be welcome news because it would force a shut down of their totally criminal military activities world wide. Although all of us will suffer in such a melt down, this may be the only incident which can defeat these insane crooks who have hi jacked our government today.

    • I have the same sentiments. The only way we (USA) will stop is when we lose our status and power. Millions will be hurt but will billions be saved (from around the world)?

Comments are closed.