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| Wait What? Chief Of Staff: Obama 'Not Surprised' By Yemen Collapse |
| 2015-01-26 |
| 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 |
| #8 That's not "speculation" Hup, that's a potential enemy Course of Action (COA). Log it in! We'll factor the probabilities and construct a matrix as more supporting data arrives. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-01-26 15:07 |
| #7 "President Obama was “not surprised” the Yemeni government fell into the hands of rebels backed by Iran," Speculation: The Obama administration ceded Yemen to Iran in a new secret |
| Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2015-01-26 14:56 |
| #6 Yemen's government was not exactly filled with good pro-western people. Yes the next government will probably be worse but there is a bit of freedom in knowing who are enemies vs those that play friend while helping enemies under the table. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2015-01-26 14:55 |
| #5 “We can’t be responsible for every government in the region. We have to make sure they’re doing that themselves” There's one country I think the regime takes an exception to, but I'll be darned if I can recall its name. Ish? Izzy? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-01-26 10:29 |
| #4 We've had our 'top men' monitoring events in Yemen for quite some time. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-01-26 09:50 |
| #3 Obama is never surprised when a shining success story collapses. He also expects friends to betray him (check) and allies to run away from him (check). Just another day between Barry, the Prince of Kenya's ears. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2015-01-26 07:24 |
| #2 wow, that's one lame excuse. I wouldn't be surprised if the Iranian envoy moons Kerry at the next nuke talks. |
| Posted by: Mystic 2015-01-26 01:24 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Phusons McGurque1872 2015-01-26 00:22 |