<Facepalm>:
A U.S. intelligence network in Yemen has been compromised after files were taken by Iranian-backed militia leaders amid violent protests in the Middle Eastern country.
According to a Los Angeles Times report, officials from the Yemen government have given other files about American intelligence operations in Yemen to Iranian advisers as well....
The theft of the files deals a significant blow to intelligence activities in the region. The L.A. Times reports the program had been implemented to track down and kill operatives from Al-Qaida. A facet of the terror group, Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), is based in Yemen and is considered by the U.S. to be the most dangerous branch of the group.
When Houthi forces recently gained control of Yemen's National Security Bureau office, it became clear the identities of local agents working for the Americans were uncovered, the L.A. Times reports.
That's the bad news. The good news? Our own people might have escaped being compromised:
The L.A. Times report does say it doesn't appear militants took files about U.S. intelligence operatives, only the names and contact information of Yemeni agents the U.S. had been using to disable the terror network in Yemen. [emphasis added]
Guaranteeing that they're all dead people walking, and further increasing the likelihood of indigenous locals "on the ground" never trusting us again. And given that "humint" (human intelligence, as opposed to technical intelligence - satellites, signals intercepts, etc. - that gathers mountains of data that are of much less use without sources that can quickly separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff) is very difficult and time-consuming to cultivate, train, and maintain, the loss of this Yemeni intelligence network constitutes a huge loss. And in a shadow war such as the one against Islamic Fundamentalism, where intelligence-gathering is of paramount importance if large-scale mass-casualty attacks are to be averted, well....let's just say that when jihadists take down the Willis (Sears) tower, for example, perhaps simultaneously with New York's Freedom Tower and the U.S. Capitol, we'll have a pretty good idea of where the attacks originated, and how they could have been stopped before ever being launched.
But not to worry, Red Barry assures us, because thanks to his herculean efforts, the Iranians are now our allies. And they would NEVER put this intelligence treasure trove to any inimical use against us - would they?
Would they?
UPDATE: The Saudis' answer to that question appears to be, "Hell, yeah!":
Saudi Arabia has mobilized 150,000 troops and some 100 fighter jets to rout Iran-linked fighters that have taken over swathes of neighboring Yemen, a security adviser to the kingdom told NBC News on Thursday.
The adviser, Nawaf Obaid, did not say whether any of Saudi troops had crossed the border into Yemen as part of the kingdom’s military intervention to arrest Yemen’s rapidly deteriorating crisis. But he said Saudi Arabia was in “complete control” of Yemeni airspace after launching airstrikes overnight and started implementing a no-fly zone. Iran quickly condemned the airstrikes launched by Saudi Arabia and its allies as “very dangerous” for the region.
“Many innocent people were killed,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marziyeh Afgam said in a statement. “Regional governments should show respect to each other and peacefully resolve matters.”
Easy for them to say since they control Yemen, and what they urge would preserve that control. And, of course, the mullahs are the experts on "showing respect" and "peacefully resolving matters".
This, then, is the wages of "smart power": Widespread, out-of-control chaos escalating towards regional all-out war. Gosh, it's sure a good thing George W. Bush isn't still president, huh?
Exit question: We're not participating in this war, natch, but if we did, on whose side would we intervene? Our allies to help them fight Iranian proxies in Yemen, or our "allies" who are fighting ISIS in Iraq and whom we are all but giving a nuclear weapons arsenal? Are we even sure we want to find out?
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