Thornberry: Didn’t Obama Cite Yemen as a Model To Follow Elsewhere in the World?

THORNBERRY: “Well, first is to learn the lessons. Remember, President Obama cited Yemen as the model that he wanted to follow in other parts of the world. So we better take a sober reevaluation of what has happened there, especially before we start trying to duplicate it elsewhere. I think you are exactly right. This increases the danger to us from al Qaeda terrorist attacks because if we don’t have a partner on the ground then al Qaeda is freer to plot and plan and carry out attacks. But the other thing it does is it increases the influence of Iran in the region. It is pretty amazing that a single event could help terrorist and Iran at the same time, and yet that is exactly what is happening.”
HEMMER: “We are going to show our viewers a map in a moment as to exactly what you are saying. But you might remember, from 2009, the president of Yemen at the time, he was quoted in saying, 'Ruling Yemen is like dancing on the heads of snakes.' Sir?”
THORNBERRY: “Yeah. I am sorry. I didn’t know that was a question. Absolutely. It is very difficult, tribal. For years Yemen was divided between a north and south. So you got some Sunni and Shiite, you got north and south, and in all that chaos, you got terrorist that thrive on chaos. So that's part of why it is such a dangerous place. Some people have called it the new Afghanistan, meaning Afghanistan back before 9/11.”