Well the raid was not a total wash:
“In the assault on a cave in remote Hajr as-Say’ar district in the eastern province of Hadramout, Yemeni security forces rescued six Yemenis, a Saudi and an Ethiopian, and killed seven al Qaeda kidnappers, Yemeni officials have said.
The defense ministry’s 26sept.net website later quoted a soldier who had participated in the rescue as saying an American, a Briton and a South African held there had been moved elsewhere two days earlier.”
No doubt WH mussies tipped the hand ...
I have long harbored this suspicion....