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Wait What? Chief Of Staff: Obama 'Not Surprised' By Yemen Collapse
President Obama was “not surprised” the Yemeni government fell into the hands of rebels backed by Iran, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said Sunday.The senior Obama aide said the president has had concerns about the Middle Eastern country since the early days of his administration. “Governance in Yemen has always been difficult,” McDonough said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” McDonough touted counterterrorism efforts in Yemen that he said were designed to keep Arabian Peninsula terrorists “off-kilter.” “But the government fell,” host Bob Schieffer said. “I mean, the strategy obviously didn’t work.” The president’s chief of staff continued to defend the policies that led to the overthrow of the U.S.-backed Yemeni government this week. “We were not surprised that this government collapsed,” McDonough said. “We knew this was an ongoing challenge over the course of the last several months.” He said the White House is focused on a strategy that empowers “actors on the ground” in Yemen to combat al Qaeda. “We can’t be responsible for every government in the region. We have to make sure they’re doing that themselves,” McDonough said. I saw Mr. McDonough on Chris Wallace's "Fox News Sunday" this a.m. McDonough stayed with his sometimes outright ludicrous talking points in spite of Wallace's (seemingly mediocre) attempts to get the story advanced. Posted by: Hupineger Glomomp7494 2015-01-26 |
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