Meanwhile...
Obama Defends US Counter-terrorism Technique in Yemen
“It is not neat and it is not very simple, but it is the finest alternative that we have,” Obama told reporters at a news conference in New Delhi.
(snip)
“We continue to go soon after high-worth targets inside of Yemen and we will continue to maintain the pressure which we call for to hold the American folks secure,” he mentioned.
“What we have shown is that we can retain the sort of pressure on these terrorist networks even in these type of tricky environments,” he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/25/politics/obama-yemen/
Yemen has never been a perfect democracy or a island of stability,” Obama said in New Delhi, where he’s on a three-day state visit. He described the U.S. policy there — “partnering and intelligence-sharing with that local government” — as the best approach in a bad situation.
“The alternative would be for us to play whack-a-mole every time there is a terrorist actor inside of any given country,” Obama said.
More spin ...
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/25/politics/obama-yemen/
Obama himself cited the U.S.-Yemen partnership when he announced in September he was going after ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
Explaining why he was ruling out sending American troops to fight ISIS, Obama said he was modeling his strategy after what he said were successful efforts in Yemen and Somalia to partner with governments to go after terrorists.
“This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years,” Obama said on September 10. “It is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year: to use force against anyone who threatens America’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order.”