The U.S. role in Yemen is increasing even as the Pentagon tries to limit its role there.
The Pentagon announced Monday that U.S. refueling support for Saudi air operations in Yemen will go forward, but would be allowed only outside of Yemeni airspace.
The refueling support is part of the growing intelligence and logistics support the U.S. is providing a coalition of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia. The Arab nations have formed a coalition to rout Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who overthrew the Yemeni government last month.
The Pentagon would not elaborate on why refueling would occur only outside of Yemen other than to say “it is a rule we put in place,” said Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren.
So far the Saudis have not requested the U.S. participate in refueling support, but “the assets are in place,” Warren said.
It’s another sign of the U.S. attempt to not overtly pick sides in yet another largely Shiite-Sunni conflict in the Middle East that threatens to affect U.S. operations in Iraq and its potential nuclear deal with Iran.
In Iraq, the U.S. is navigating between the partnership of the Iraqi government and the Iranian-backed Shiite militias as the combined forces currently there, including U.S. airstrike support, begin the task of agreeing upon the next Islamic State target and get used to operating together.
Meanwhile in Yemen, the U.S. is trying to convince a large number of Arab nations it is fully with them in their mission to destroy the Iranian-backed rebels there, even as it tries to hold to limits on its role there.
However, in the last several days, intense fighting in Yemen has cut off electricity and threatened the water supply for millions of Yemenis. On Saturday the International Red Cross warned of a looming humanitarian crisis there, which may mean the need for U.S. intervention and humanitarian support eventually to prevent Yemen from festering into prime territory for al Qaeda or the Islamic State to regroup and gain strength.
The U.S. has combat air rescue ships in the region that assisted last week in the rescue of two Saudi F-15 pilots who crashed in the Gulf of Aden. Two U.S. Navy warships, the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Sterett and the amphibious transport ship USS New York, successfully responded to the downed plane.
