It seems like an eternity ago when Obama delivered the following extensively choreographed "Statement by the President on ISIL [7]", in which he praised US anti-terrorist tactics, giving Yemen and its "partners" as an example of "successful" US foreign intervention. To wit:
Now, it will take time to eradicate a cancer like ISIL. And any time we take military action, there are risks involved –- especially to the servicemen and women who carry out these missions. But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil. This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL 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. And it is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year: to use force against anyone who threatens America’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order.
He may want to scrub that statement because just 4 months after reading that from the Teleprompter, America's "partners on the Yemen front lines" have officially fled quietly into that good night, abandoning the control of the nation to local Shiite militiamen.
From Reuters:
Houthi fighters entered Yemen's presidential palace after a brief clash with the compound's security guards, witnesses and security sources told Reuters, a day after some of the worst battles in the capital in years. Guards at the presidential palace housing the main office of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said they handed over the compound to Houthi fighters after a brief clash. Witnesses said there was a brief clash between a Houthi force and palace guards.
Witnesses also said they saw the Houthis seize armoured vehicles that had been guarding the entrances to the palace. The Houthis on Monday fought artillery battles with the army near the presidential palace, in some of the most intense fighting in Sanaa in years, and surrounded the prime minister's residence.
The WSJ adds [8]that there is no information on the current whereabouts of the Yemen president:
The whereabouts of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi were unknown. The number of casualties was also unknown.
The Houthis are demanding a greater say in the government and in the drafting of Yemen’s new constitution. They oppose Mr. Hadi’s recommendation that the constitution stipulate the division of Yemen into six federal states.
And with oil-prices plunging once again, which means social instability in the middle east is about to explode making the Arab spring of 2011 seem like child's play by comparison, things around the globe are about to take a dramatic turn for the worse.
