US President Barack Obama’s steely vow to hunt down all those responsible for the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day has left a crucial question unanswered: Was it his personal order to US military forces to attack two suspected al-Qaeda bases in Yemen with cruise missiles on Dec. 17 that triggered the “revenge” terrorist operation against the plane one week later?
According to a report aired on Dec. 18 by the American ABC News network and not denied by the White House, US and Yemeni government forces jointly targeted two al-Qaeda training camps the previous day after US officials determined “an imminent attack against a US asset was being planned” there.
Both targets were bombed repeatedly by Yemeni air force planes. Subsequent official estimates said about 35 militants were killed, although a Yemeni opposition spokesman said the death toll was much higher and included women and children. They denied the villages contained al-Qaeda camps.
Citing unidentified administration sources, ABC News reporter Brian Ross said the US military fired two cruise missiles during the attacks, one at each alleged camp, after Obama gave the go-ahead.
US officials have neither confirmed nor denied a US role in the air strikes, while the Yemeni government has insisted that only its own forces were involved.
Asked about a Dec. 19 report in the New York Times on US involvement in the attacks, Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said only that “Yemen should be congratulated for actions against al-Qaeda.”
But the newspaper said that Obama had approved US military and intelligence support following a request from the Yemeni government.
Obama’s actions in supporting the Yemen attacks appear to have had a bigger-than-expected impact. In a statement issued on Monday claiming responsibility for organizing the failed bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253, al-Qaeda said the plot was specifically intended to avenge US attacks on the group in Yemen and “unjust aggression on the Arabian peninsula.”
The US military’s support for the Yemeni operations marks a significant escalation in US involvement there and may presage a deepening intervention in coming months as Obama follows up on his vow to track down the would-be bombers.
Obama has taken a close interest in combating the al-Qaeda build-up in Yemen since taking office last January. He sent his senior counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, to Sana’a in September and issued a statement proclaiming Yemen’s security to be vital to the US national security interest.
Last month Yemen announced it had signed a military co-operation pact with the US, although Washington was not forthcoming about the details.
Yemen’s official Saba news agency said the cooperation agreement was signed during talks in Sana’a between the two countries’ militaries.
Now, having taken the plunge, Obama faces the prospect of the opening of another front in the “war on terror” as jihadis displaced by US military action in Afghanistan and Pakistan make the trek south — and attempt to turn the Arabian peninsula into a new launching pad for attacks against the West.
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