The State Department is pulling more but not all of its embassy staff out of Yemen after President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a major U.S. backed ally, and his cabinet resigned en masse Thursday.
The move surprised U.S. officials and increased the likelihood that the country would become a bigger safe haven for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and other militants trying to plot attacks against U.S. and European targets.
With the U.S. focused on fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the Obama administration signaled that it is unlikely to come to Hadi’s aid.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki issued a statement late Thursday night calling on “all sides to avoid violence” and recalled how democratic gains the Yemeni people demanded in 2011 have now been eroded but offered no indication that the U.S. would intervene.
“The future of Yemen should be determined by the Yemeni people in accordance with Yemen’s constitution and the National Dialogue Conference outcomes,” Psaki said. “All Yemenis have both a right and responsibility to peacefully participate in this process. The United States remains firmly committed to supporting all Yemenis in this endeavor.”
U.S. drone strikes against top AQAP leaders will likely continue in Yemen, but without Hadi, the U.S. is losing a significant partner in its ability to track terrorist suspects’ travel in and out of country.
When asked how the chaos in Yemen will impact U.S. intelligence gathering, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who chairs the Armed Services Committee, confirmed that our ability to track foreign fighters and al Qaeda leaders would be diminished.
He also pointed out that several AQAP leaders in the country are former Guantanamo Bay detainees, underscoring the concern so many Republicans have about releasing more Yemeni detainees from the island prison either to Yemen or other countries without the ability to track their movements.
“These guys are proud about being in Guantanamo – they advertise it – it’s their badge of honor,” McCain told the Washington Examiner.
The Obama administration Thursday suspended Gitmo detainee transfers to Yemen but said it reserves the right to reinstate such transfers at any time to retain flexibility in its efforts to shutter the facility.
