Obama and his long dirty little fingers in Yemen

Obama’s Arab Spring policies have really borne fruit, no? The US and the Saudis pressured dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign in November 2011, as part of the efforts by the White House to clear the decks in the region with the so-called Arab Spring. Saleh had survived for 30 years by playing both sides of the Shi’a/Sunni divide, which the weak successor government couldn’t accomplish. (Above from HotAir)

While our State department was looking the other way, Iran moves on into Yemen. Looking back on earlier posts, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that Yemen was headed down the tubes. Even worse, the media turned a blind eye to the Executive Orders by our imperial President. Just a few months ago, Obama was touting Yemen as a success story. Yet all one had to do is check out the internet for the real news. Here are a few memories just for the record. I am including links to earlier posts. This says it all, all part of the so called Arab Spring.

April 4, 2011

SANA, Yemen — The United States, which long supported Yemen’s president Saleh, even in the face of recent widespread protests, has now quietly shifted positions and has concluded that he is unlikely to bring about the required reforms and must be eased out of office, according to American and Yemeni officials.

Published on Sep 11, 2014

[HOT NEWS] Obama’s critics dismiss Yemen, Somalia airstrikes as model to fight ISIS – Sept 12, 2014

When President Barack Obama said that U.S. strategy to combat the terror group ISIS could follow the models of strikes in Yemen and Somalia, it drew a swift rebuttal from some top Republicans.

Obama signed Executive Order, gags press coverage of Yemen

September 28, 2012  — bunkerville. An Executive order seeks to punish U.S. citizens even for “indirectly” obstructing dictatorial rule in Yemen. First the news:

Turmoil Over Video Spreads to Yemen  New York Times

Witnesses said Yemeni security forces had tried to disperse a crowd at the fortified embassy compound. But protesters broke through an outer perimeter protecting the embassy, clambering over a high wall and setting fire to a building. They were forced to retreat after trying to plunder furniture and computers.

The protests came hours after a Muslim cleric, Abdul Majid al-Zandani, urged followers to emulate the protests in Libya and Egypt, Sana residents said.

Now, An Executive order seeks to punish U.S. citizens even for “indirectly” obstructing dictatorial rule in Yemen.

There seems to be little question that the Obama administration is devoted to imposing dictatorial order on Yemen through the use of force and liberty abridgment. As Scahill previously reported, Obama has played a direct personal role in the ongoing imprisonment of a Yemeni journalist who committed the crime of documenting the large number of civilian deaths from a U.S. cluster bomb attack on his country as well as exposing the joint lies of the Yemeni and U.S. Government. The latest U.S. drone strike in Yemen yesterday, even according to Yemeni officials, killed more civilians than alleged “militants.” The bombing campaign in Yemen now increasingly resembles the one conducted in Pakistan, though Yemen saw more drone strikes this month than any previous month in Pakistan.

President Obama issued an executive order last May giving the Treasury Department authority to freeze the U.S.-based assets of anyone who “obstructs” implementation of the administration-backed political transition in Yemen.

The unusual order, which administration officials said also targets U.S. citizens who engage in activity deemed to threaten Yemen’s security or political stability, is the first issued for Yemen that does not directly relate to counterterrorism.

In other words, the U.S. Government will now punish anyone who is determined — in the sole discretion of the U.S. Government — even to “indirectly” obstruct the full transition of power to President Hadi. But what if someone — a Yemeni or an American — opposes Hadi’s rule and wants to agitate for a real election in which more than one candidate runs? Is that pure political advocacy, as it appears, now prohibited by the U.S. Government, punishable by serious sanctions, on the ground that it “obstructs” the transition of power to Hadi? Can journalists who report on corruption or violence by the Hadi regime and who write Op-Eds demanding a new election be accused, as it seems, of “threatening Yemen’s political stability”

Previous posts that may be of interest:

Obama’s war in Yemen decends into hell without comment October 15, 2012

Obama waives prohibition on child soldiers: While Michelle is worried about our kids and their exercise and caloric intake, her husband dearest signs an Executive Order for Africa to send their kids to war. Water boarding bad, killing kids good. Typical Progressive logic. The President has taken it upon himself to waive the sanctions against countries using child soldiers. The Child Soldier Protection Act was originally passed in 2008 by Congress-but he just waives it.

”I hereby determine that it is in the national interest of the United States to waive the application to Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Yemen of the prohibition in section 404(a) of the CSPA”. So children, it’s off to war you go.

US declassifies military attacks in Yemen, Somalia June 18, 2012 — bunkerville

U.S. Special Forces Being Deployed to Protect “Security” of Yemen May 18, 2012

Obama makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to criticize the government of Yemen. May 17, 2012

Boy-King Obama says, Bye Bye to Yemen’s Saleh April 4, 2011

SANA, Yemen — The United States, which long supported Yemen’s president Saleh, even in the face of recent widespread protests, has now quietly shifted positions and has concluded that he is unlikely to bring about the required reforms and must be eased out of office, according to American and Yemeni officials.

State Department Using ‘Diversity Visas’ to Encourage Immigration to U.S. from Terror-Ridden Yemen January 5, 2010