February 8, 2017

GOVERNING IS NOT A HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER:

Yemen Withdraws Permission for U.S. Antiterror Ground Missions (DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT, FEB. 7, 2017, NY Times)

Angry at the civilian casualties incurred last month in the first commando raid authorized by President Trump, Yemen has withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups in the country, according to American officials. [...]

It also calls into question whether the Pentagon will receive permission from the president for far more autonomy in selecting and executing its counterterrorism missions in Yemen, which it sought, unsuccessfully, from President Barack Obama in the last months of his term.

Mr. Obama deferred the decision to Mr. Trump, who appeared inclined to grant it: His approval of the Jan. 29 raid came over a dinner four nights earlier with his top national security aides, rather than in the kind of rigorous review in the Situation Room that became fairly routine under President George W. Bush and Mr. Obama.

The raid, in which just about everything went wrong, was an early test of Mr. Trump's national security decision-making -- and his willingness to rely on the assurances of his military advisers. 

Posted by at February 8, 2017 5:42 AM

  

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