Counter Terrorism

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Counter Terrorism

As a permanent VETO member and a dominant superpower across the globe, the United States of America is no stranger in handling global issues. With the rise of Islamic radicalization and terrorist attacks across different parts of the world, more so in countries allied to the United States, the powerhouse has been a reckoning force to counter terrorism activity. Despite the massive media attention on Syria, Iraq, North Korea, Somali, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and other areas, as terrorist hotbeds, there’s much to be desired in counter terrorism efforts in Yemen. In that regard, the policy paper will highlight counter terrorism efforts in Yemen, highlighting the domestic and foreign issues in Yemen and the gains the previous U.S administration had achieved and how the current administration is handling the matter. Although the counter terrorism playbook implemented in Yemen intended to be successful, the bridge to success is slowly but steadily diminishing paving the way for a new chapter of failure.

The current humanitarian situation in Yemen that has witnessed deaths of thousands, over eight million people at risk of starvation and seventy-five percent of the population in desperate need of humanitarian assistance (BBC, 2018). However, the Gulf country is no stranger to conflict, and the majority of the country’s issues barely make headlines in western media, and it was only until the Arab spring and that issues escalated. Commentators on the Yemeni issue have attempted to portray the problems regarding religious conflicts, while others a Saudi Arabia and Iran power-struggle, however the countries complex history states otherwise. Yemen domestic political problems are a major contributor to the current problems. As a highly decentralized government with a fragile central government, the country only unified from North and South Yemen to Yemen in 1990 and already faces its third civil war.

As the most impoverished state in the Gulf, Yemen capital Sanaa, is expected to run out of essential services such as access to clean water and its such issues that prompt the countries exploitation by its neighbors. Furthermore, the sectarian premise of the Sunni-Shia issues is a crucial factor for problems coupled with longtime president, Ali Abdullah Saleh influence. Terrorism-related issues began during Saleh’s administration when the al-Qaeda became a global concern. In 2005, the Saudi’s defeated al-Qaeda and some of the operatives moved to Yemen where the government couldn’t deal with their threat. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was subsequently identified, and the United States decided to offer assistance to counter the terrorist threat (Rugh 2017). As a result, the U.S became the recipient of constant terrorist attacks across its embassy in Sanaa as well as other failed attempts. AQAP also claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack in France, and al-Qaeda influence was visible.

The Saleh administration accepted the United States offers and allied their counterterrorism efforts, and drones strike intensified in the country. In 2014, the Obama administration stated that it had allocated $5 billion to the counterterrorism fund in a bid to support capacity building and resources for regional allies in the Gulf to confront terror networks. With the aim of countering Islamic extremism, and noting that it’s was and still is a Saudi-led coalition, the majority of the counterterrorism efforts by the U.S has been reduced to limited military assistance, regarding logistics, intelligence and aerial refueling (Rugh 2017). The U.S has also deployed warships situated at the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea to deter the Iranians from the war.

A narrow security approach is an epithet the security operations in Yemen has been labeled according to Bodine & Greenfield (2014). During the Obama administration, the Arab Spring saw the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham with violence reigning in Libya, and the subsequent exacerbation of violence and terrorist activity across the middle east. The AQAP became a recurrent face that caused havoc in Yemen, imitating heinous atrocities of ISIS inside Yemen territorial borders, such as public beheading. Fearsome attacks by the Houthi’s and the Zaydi Shia rebels towards Yemeni state-run institutions created the instability and security loopholes that AQAP were ready to exploit.

Notably, a report by Bodine & Greenfield (2014), from the Atlantic Council and Rafiki Hariri Center for the Middle East highlights the counterterrorism efforts the Obama administration undertook that show a failed outcome. The Yemen situation required an understanding of the interconnected nature poor governance, i.e., corruption, food insecurity, low economic levels, tribal conflicts and terrorist activity, factors which invariably lead to the forced handover by longtime president Saleh to his deputy and current president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. The conflict began in 2014, when Houthi Shia rebels deemed Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, weak and took control of major areas, including the capital Sanaa, forcing Mr. Hadi into exile, prompting international efforts as the security forces in the country were overwhelmed.

As the conflict escalated dramatically in 2015, Saudi Arabia and eight other Sunni Muslim countries, backed by the United States, United Kingdom, and France led air strikes in Houthi rebel strongholds in a bid to restore president Hadi rule. The immediate Saudi-led response was intended to avoid an increased control by the Houthi rebels and the Shia Muslim majority state of Iran, which would mean giving Iran a stronghold in Yemen. Saudi Arabia subsequently accused Iran of supporting the Houthi rebels, charges the Iranians denied. The lethality of the terrorist activity in the region continued to grow, and the default counterterrorism efforts by the United States remained drone strikes and capacity building of counterterrorism units in the country (Hartig 2018).

Full control and counter-attacking the Islamic Terrorist threat requires a strong central government in Yemen. Otherwise, the international community would only spend more with limited results. Hartig (2017) articulates that Yemen must act as a Partner in its crisis and the U.S role is also limited since it closed its Embassy in Sanaa in March 2017. The current humanitarian crisis proves that the counterterrorism efforts are failing, and a political situation is needed. The visit by King Salman to Washington in September 2017, proved critical as the Obama administration persuaded him to do more to reduce the humanitarian crisis and allow international organizations to assist and action that proved positive to some extent.

In conclusion, peeling the cover of the US counterterrorism success in the Gulf region reveals a chilling cry over moral and legal concerns, especially in regards to air strikes. As the most preferred weapon, drone strikes have been reported to kill innocent civilians, since the rebels use civilians as cover while living in impoverished areas of the country causing more harm than good. With a history of political instability and sectarianism, the civil war in Yemen will require a politically viable solution that the Houthi’s and president Hadi government can agree with international assistance. Although the agreement might only last a few years, it would bring a needed peace in the area and reduce the terrorist activity in the area, although the U.S is certain to maintain its presence in the issue.

References

Bodine, K. B., & Greenfield, D. (2014). A Blueprint for a Comprehensive US Counterterrorism Strategy in Yemen. Atlantic Council. [PDF File]. Retrieved from https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/Blueprint_for_CT_in_Yemen.pdf

BBC. (2018, June). Yemen conflict explained in 400 words. Available at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-44466574

Hartig, L. (2018, December 7). Full Accounting Needed for US-UAE Counterterrorism Partnership in Yemen. Available at https://www.justsecurity.org/61761/full-accounting-needed-us-uae-counterterrorism-partnership-yemen/

Rugh, A. W. (2017). Problems in Yemen, Domestic and Foreign. Middle East Policy Council. https://www.mepc.org/journal/problems-yemen-domestic-and-foreign