Yemen poses concern as terrorist haven for al-Qaeda, says top commande

Yemen has posed a concern as a potential terrorist safe haven for some time, and the United States will continue to work with its government to prevent that from happening, according to a report from Jim Garamone of the American Forces Press Service submitted to the Terrorism Committee of the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said over the weekend that the U.S. military has no plan to conduct combat operations in Yemen, nor does the Yemeni government want U.S. combat forces in the country. Admiral Mullen was speaking at the Naval War College in Rhode Island.Rather, he said, the U.S. military will help the Yemeni military with equipment and training. U.S. military officials have been concerned about the country long before the attempted bombing of an American passenger jet on Christmas propelled it into the news, the chairman added. "It's been a concern of mine for a long time now because of what it represents, which is the potential for ... a safe haven for al-Qaeda, as does Somalia and as do, quite frankly, some other parts of the world that are ungoverned territories or ungoverned parts of certain countries," he said.  The U.S. counterterrorism approach to Yemen likely will entail doubling the amount of aid there, but does not include deploying American troops, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus said.The general's remarks on CNN's "Amanpour" show on Sunday came as focus on al-Qaeda's presence in Yemen has increased after the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound U.S. flight allegedly by a Nigerian who received training and explosives from terrorists in Yemen. "Last year, it was somewhere around $70 million," the commander of U.S. Central Command said of U.S. counterterrorism funding to Yemen. "Over the course of this fiscal year, it should be somewhere around $150 million or more." The American military has provided training to the Yemeni armed forces, including to helping train the Yemeni coast guard to combat piracy. "We've been focused on Yemen for a significant period of time, and we'll continue to support them and help them," Admiral Mullen said. Mullen said people ask him often if the United States is going to send troops to the nation. "The answer is we have no plans to do that, and we shouldn't forget this is a sovereign country," he said. "Sovereign countries get to vote on who comes in their country and who doesn't." The United States has worked hard to understand the challenges in the country and to improve the military-to-military relationship between the countries, the chairman said. "We have worked hard to try to improve our relationships and training, education and war fighting support, if you will," he said. "And, yet, we still have a long way to go. The effort in Yemen is not limited to the military, the chairman said; all aspects of U.S. governance are helping in the nation. "There is international support that's required, there is support from our State Department, from our Treasury Department, from other institutions in America, as those institutions are represented in other countries as well," he said. America recognizes the seriousness of the situation in Yemen and will continue to work with the Yemeni government, Mullen said.