Will Obama put U.S. boots on the ground in Yemen?

[Kshasty]

U.S. President Barack Obama said he has "no intention" of sending troops to Yemen to combat militant groups there, in an interview with the People magazine, dated January 11.

He also said America so far had no plans of invading Somalia either, although the two countries practice an alarmingly soft approach to al-Qaeda, and Yemen is growing into a problem in the global fight against terrorism.

Admittedly, instead of "military injections of democracy," the United States will increase allocations for the anti-terrorist support of Yemen's government (to $130 million a year) and will also provide other kinds of support such as training local police. This approach is certainly better than bombs and the resulting devastating consequences for the entire Horn of Africa region.

The most ardent Republicans have been urging Obama to do something about Yemen since the failed bomb attack on a U.S. airliner headed from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian student who brought the bomb on board, was allegedly acting on Al-Qaeda's orders and had been trained in Yemen.

Joe Lieberman Senator from Connecticut, who declared himself an independent democrat several years ago but supported republican John McCain in the 2008 election, even urged Obama to make a preventive strike against Yemen.

America must have learned a few lessons from the difficult campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan; or maybe not - only time will tell. Speaking about Yemen as a growing terrorist threat, Obama said: "I have no intention of sending U.S. boots on the ground in these regions."

However, as is often the case with presidents, Obama made sure he did not cancel other options. Why should he drive himself into a corner? He also made his statement conditional on a very important factor, saying he was not going to send troops "while the local governments remain effective partners."

The proviso sounds bizarre. Anyone familiar with the current situation in Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, would not believe that its government could be an "effective partner" for Obama. Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, first elected in 1999, then reelected for a second term until 2013, is in control of about 40% of the country, which has already amnestied several Al-Qaeda fighters, where corruption has reached an incredible scale and a guerilla warfare is flaring in the north.

http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20100111/157512538.html

[Demeter]

1. What Boots? Baby Boots?

The boots of soldiers who have suicided, because that's their only way out?

Reality, it bites.

[bemildred]

2. That seems like an extremely stupid thing to do, so yeah, we might do it. nt