WH: Yemen BOTH a Counter-Terror 'Success' and an Al Qaeda 'Safe Haven' for 'Terror Attacks'

Barbara Boland | February 11, 2015
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Yemen, the country that the White House admitted today is a “safe haven” for Al Qaeda “to plan and carry out operations or terror attacks around the globe,” was touted by President Obama in September as an example of the “success” of his anti-terrorism strategy.

Less than six months later, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest admitted in today’s press briefing that al Qaeda is exploiting the country’s “instability” to plan its “terror attacks.”

This damning admission came after Major Garrett, chief White House correspondent with CBS News, asked Earnest: “Someone might ask you reasonably – the embassy is closed, you had ‘a pretty serious and somewhat delicate,’ to use your words, evacuation of U.S. personnel, in what way does this still qualify as a ‘success’ of U.S. counterterrorism operations?”

“Well, Major, it’s really important to differentiate between two things,” said Earnest. “Yemen has been a country that has been divided and reassembled on multiple occasions. And it is a country with a pretty weak central government. That has been the case for a long time now. And that is despite the efforts of the United States to try to support the Yemenis in terms of having the kind of a central government that represents all their people and is able to successfully provide security for their people. That has been a long running challenge.”

“But what is also part of our strategy, in terms of our dealings with Yemen, is to make sure that we are using our diplomacy, and our work, our counterterrorism work with the Yemeni government,” said Earnest. “But also using our own equipment and personnel to carry out counterterrorism operations in Yemen.”

He then makes this stunning admission: “some extremists, including the extremists in al Qaeda and the Arabian peninsula have sought to use the instability in Yemen as a safe haven to plan and carry out operations or terror attacks around the globe.”

 

In September, Obama used Yemen as an example of how his strategy against ISIS will work, saying:

“This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out [the Islamic State] wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.”

Less than six months later, this example of his “strategy” for “taking out terrorists who threaten us” is – by the White House’s own admission – a “safe haven” for al Qaeda “to plan and carry out… terror attacks around the globe.”

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