U.S. to 'Coordinate' Middle East Air Defenses, Just Not for Yemen
CENTCOM is establishing an 'air defense cell' at Qatar's Al Udeid base, ostensibly to 'coordinate a regional approach to air and missile defense' against Iran. The report frames this as a 'nascent step' in a decades-long push to 'diplomatically facilitate air defense cooperation' amongst Gulf states. One might conclude this 'cooperation' is selective, given the deafening silence from these same
regional partners and the U.S. military when Houthi missiles target Saudi Arabia's oil infrastructure, or when the Saudi-led coalition (with U.S. support) bombards Yemen's civilian infrastructure, a conflict costing an estimated 377,000 lives by the end of 2021, according to UNDP. So, the U.S. military is keen on 'defending' the skies against threats outlined by Washington, yet somehow lacks the
'coordination' to protect Yemeni civilians from NATO-equipped bombs dropped by its own allies. It appears 'air defense cooperation' is less about regional stability and more about projecting power where American interests (read: oil and arms sales) dictate. One might wonder if the 'threat' isn't just Iran, but any actor challenging U.S. hegemony in a region long destabilized by interventions. (How
many air defense cells do Yemenis get?)