The press is largely ignoring Yemen.
The press is largely ignoring Yemen.
ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
waltky (05-03-2017)
Granny says, "Dat's right - ya can't keep a good ship down...
USS Cole Patrols Off Yemen After Iran-Backed Rebels Attack Saudi Ship
Feb 03, 2017 - The Navy sent the USS Cole to the Gulf of Aden following an attack earlier this week on a Saudi warship off Yemen by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, a U.S. defense official told Fox News Friday.
The destroyer is the same warship that suffered heavy damage in an al-Qaida bombing attack in Yemen in 2000 that killed 17 sailors. The Navy's move also came as the Trump administration on Friday imposed sanctions on 13 people and a dozen companies in response to Iran's recent ballistic missile test. Trump tweeted Friday that "Iran is playing with fire - they don't appreciate how 'kind' President Obama was to them. Not me!" The Cole has been sent to an area off Yemen where U.S. warships were attacked in October, resulting in a retaliatory Tomahawk cruise missile strike from a U.S. destroyer against Houthi radar installations in on Yemen’s coastline. The Pentagon says the Houthis have placed mines in the water near the entrance to the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait.
Another reason the Cole is being sent to the area is to maintain freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and through the strait, Fox News reports. President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, said this week the administration was putting Iran "on notice" for its missile test Sunday and for supporting the Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthis targeted a Saudi frigate off the coast of Yemen Monday, but the attack may have been meant for an American warship, two defense officials told Fox News. Two Saudi sailors were killed and three were wounded in the attack. At first the ship was thought to have been struck by a missile.
But based on new analysis of a video showing the attack, American intelligence officials now believe a suicide bomber in a small boat carried out the attack after ramming the side of the Saudi vessel. In the audio heard on the video, a voice narrating the attack shouts in Arabic, "Allahu akbar [God is great], death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews and victory for Islam." U.S. defense analysts believe those behind the attack either thought the bomber was striking an American warship or that this was a “dress rehearsal” similar to the attack on the Cole, according to one official.
The attack on the Saudi ship came a day after Trump spoke by phone with Saudi King Salman to discuss setting up safe zones for refugees in Syria and Yemen. Senior U.S. defense officials who spoke with Fox News expressed concern over the attack but said they were confident American warships can defend themselves. The United States has supported a Saudi-led air campaign against the Houthis in Yemen since 2015. Last weekend, Navy SEALs teamed up with United Arab Emirates Special Forces to carry out a raid targeting senior al-Qaida in Yemen leaders. Navy Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens was killed and at least three other U.S. service members were wounded in the raid.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...ack-saudi.html
Maybe they will get a chance for some payback.
ΜOΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
The ME is to the world what Chicago is to America. A cesspool, created by decades of horrible policy and action.
waltky (02-06-2017)
Peter1469 (02-06-2017)
Gotta take care of our proxies...
US Weighs Giving Saudis More Military Aid for Yemen Efforts
20 Apr 2017 —The United States is considering ways to boost military support for the Saudi-led fight against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen.
The United States is considering ways to boost military support for the Saudi-led fight against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, believing military pressure is needed to prod the militants into a negotiated end to the conflict, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The U.S. already is helping the Saudis by providing intelligence and aerial refueling of their combat aircraft. But the coalition, which also includes the United Arab Emirates, has failed to defeat the rebels known as the Houthis. The rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen in 2014.
International calls for an end to the conflict are intensifying amid rising civilian casualties. Health groups warn the Arab world's poorest country is on the brink of famine. But the Trump administration is considering how to help the Saudis advance their campaign, according to officials, who briefed reporters on condition they not be quoted by name. The assistance could involve more intelligence support but won't include a commitment of U.S. ground troops, they said, adding that any moves would reflect the administration's effort to aggressively counter what it sees as Iran's malign influence across the region.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis meets with Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman and his delegation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who met King Salman and other top Saudi officials Tuesday and Wednesday, has complained about Iran sending missiles to the Houthis, who've then used them to fire across the Yemen's border into Saudi Arabia. "Everywhere you look, if there's trouble in the region, you find Iran," Mattis said after his meetings Wednesday. "So right now what we're seeing is the nations in the region and others elsewhere trying to checkmate Iran and the amount of disruption and instability they can cause." In Washington, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson echoed the assessment.
A day after certifying that Iran was upholding last year's nuclear accord, Tillerson outlined the litany of American complaints about Tehran: its alliance with Syrian President Bashar Assad, support for Iraqi militant groups, threats to freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf, cyberattacks against the U.S. and backing for groups threatening Israel's security. On Yemen, he said Iran is helping the Houthis' "attempted overthrow of the government by providing military equipment, funding and training." He said interdictions of weapons shipments have revealed a "complex Iranian network to arm and equip the Houthis." Before visiting Riyadh, Mattis said the administration's goal in Yemen was to help arrange a United Nations-brokered peace negotiation.
The war has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 civilians and led to the displacement of some 3 million Yemenis. Dozens of Saudi soldiers have been killed in cross-border attacks from Yemen. Last month the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, warned that humanitarian and economic conditions were rapidly deteriorating. He urged the U.N. Security Council to pressure Yemen's government and Houthi rebels into ending the war and creating a transitional government. Speaking to the council on March 29, Ahmed said "further military escalation and humanitarian suffering will not bring the parties closer together."
MORE