Pentagon chief asks for deeper military involvement in Yemen

In a memo submitted to National Security Adviser Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster this month, Mattis suggested that “limited support” for the Saudi-led war would help counter a “common threat,” the Washington Post reported on Sunday , citing senior US officials.

If approved, the request would mark a significant increase in US military involvement in Yemen, which until now has been largely restricted to counterterrorism operations against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and indirect backing for the Saudi-led coalition.

The immediate question in the Pentagon chief’s memo, which will be debated by President Donald Trump’s national security team this week, is whether to provide support for a planned operation by the United Arab Emirates to take the key Red Sea port of Hudaydah.

The memo, however, does not recommend that the White House agree to every element of the Emirati plan.

A proposal to deploy American Special Operations forces on the ground on the Red Sea coast “was not part of the request” Mattis is putting forward, a senior administration official told the Post on condition of anonymity.

The official and several others said Mattis has requested that restrictions, set by former President Barack Obama, be lifted so that the US military can provide surveillance and intelligence support as well as refueling and operational planning assistance to Emirati operations against the Houthi Ansarullah movement.