FNA - New investigations and reports by Western media outlets have found that militias in Yemen, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, which is supported by the US and UK, have been recruiting thousands of Al-Qaeda terrorists to fight Ansarullah popular forces to reinstate the ousted government of former president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Based on these new reports, also acknowledged by the Jamestown Foundation, a US analysis group that tracks terrorism, elements of the US military are clearly aware that much of what the US is doing in Yemen is aiding Al-Qaeda. However, supporting the UAE and Saudi Arabia against what the US claims as Iranian expansionism takes priority over battling Al-Qaeda and even stabilizing Yemen.


Meaning, anything the US and cronies are doing against Ansarullah in Yemen certainly helps Al-Qaeda because the two sides don't get along. Implicitly, they are helping Al-Qaeda if they help the Saudis and the UAE whether they really want it or not.


The US believes that it has strategic interests in Yemen and that calls for the US to dirty its hands, as lots of civilians are being killed by the US-backed, Saudi-led bombings and air strikes. The indirect benefit is to benefit Al-Qaeda and other terror outfits. Al-Qaeda is a more serious threat than Iran’s non-existent expansionism is. It is so foolish to argue that Iran controls five Arab capitals in the region. Iran doesn’t control any capital in the region and it has no military presence or support groups in Yemen. That’s fantasy.


The US should stop taking its eyes off the ball. Washington really needs to get its head straight about who it is trying to help and who it is trying to hurt. Right now, they don't have that straight at all. Simply put, they are empowering terrorist groups by allowing Saudis bomb that war-torn country in breach of international laws and UN Charter.


Seventeen years after the 9/11 attacks, it is reported that Al-Qaeda and other terror outfits may be stronger than ever and US policies in the Middle East appear to have encouraged their spread. The American objective in engaging with countries in the region is not really about going after these groups militarily, much less dry out the causes of it and work with the United Nations to bring stability to the region. The main objective is using them as a pretext to maintain the buildup in the region, threaten and undermine foes and materialize interests.


The Trump administration is no exception to the US plan. But they have focused more on the hard power aspect of engaging in these issues and have reduced the American diplomatic presence in the region. They are in a negative circle feeding into a dynamic that encourages instability and terrorism rather than stability and cohesion.


In the eyes of the international community, staying out of Yemen and other countries in the Middle East like Syria could be a better choice for the US and NATO. The War Party in Washington needs to end its dirty wars and let the people in the region work the conflicts out themselves. The US is not an honest broker for peace and not a trustworthy partner when it comes to the implementation of regional and international treaties and agreements. Any doubters should ask the long-suffering people of Palestine.


After years of fighting, much blood and treasure spent, and numerous failed attempts at negotiations, it is time for the US and Saudi Arabia to give up the failed military campaign to forestall further bloodshed in Yemen, particularly in Hodeida. It seems the best to be hoped for is a near-term agreement between the Yemeni groups and people to determine their own fate through ceasefire and talks. This agreement will be extremely difficult but possible to reach in the absence of Washington and Saudi meddling.


A longer war and indeed a larger fight for total control of Hodeida and its environs will be catastrophic for innocent Yemenis. In Washington’s absence, there are compromises that all sides in the conflict could live with. For the sake of millions of Yemeni citizens, they can and they will find out where those compromises lie.