US reportedly steps up involvement in Saudi-led Yemen campaign

The U.S. reportedly has taken on a greater role in the Saudi-led campaign of airstrikes against Shiite rebels in Yemen amid doubts about whether Riyadh can achieve its objectives.

 

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the U.S. Navy has stepped up patrols looking for weapons that American and Arab officials believe have been sent to the rebel forces, known as Houthis, by Iran. On one occasion, the paper reports, U.S. sailors boarded a Panama-flagged freighter in the Red Sea that was suspected of carrying armaments. The search turned up nothing.

 

The paper also reported that the Obama administration authorized Pentagon war planners to cross-check a list of targets provided by the Saudis against U.S. intelligence and provide feedback ahead of the first airstrikes last month.

 

Two-and-a-half weeks of aerial and naval bombardment have done little to slow the Houthi advance in Yemen, though it has prevented the rebels from controlling the port city of Aden. The Journal reports that the relative lack of success has caused Washington to call on the Saudis to revisit the goals of their campaign.

 

Saudi officials tell the paper that their goal is to degrade the capabilities of the Houthis and restore Yemen’s deposed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to his office. Hadi is currently in Saudi Arabia after being forced to flee by the Houthis just prior to the start of airstrikes.

 

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