Top US general was secretly involved in Yemen war – WaPo — RT World News
Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis advised the United Arab Emirates government after retiring from the Marine Corps
Retired US Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis was appointed in 2015 to advise the United Arab Emirates on the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Mattis did not publicly disclose the party when he became defense secretary in 2017.
The newspaper looked into the Mattis case as part of an investigation into the Gulf state's hiring of retired American military officers, and obtained previously undisclosed documents through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi at the time, struck up a friendship with Mattis in 2011, when the Marine general was head of US Central Command. When Saudi Arabia launched its campaign against the Houthis in Yemen, Mohammed reached out to Mattis, who had recently retired from the US Army.
In June 2015, Mattis applied for permission from the State Department and the Marine Corps to advise the United Arab Emirates. “Operational, tactical, informational and ethical aspects” From the campaign against Yemen.
“I will be compensated” He wrote by hand on a form submitted to the US Marine Corps on June 4, 2015, with the amount to be determined after US government approval.
Robert Tyrer, a senior executive at The Cohen Group — which currently employs Mattis — told the newspaper that Mattis has never accepted money from foreign governments, except for standard travel expenses. According to Tyrer, Mathis filed the compensation claim until his papers were received “The most stringent level of review.”
Documents reviewed by the newspaper show that his application was approved by the US Marine Corps after just 15 days, while the State Department gave its blessing on August 5. “Several months, sometimes years” The outlet said it only lasted two months. By contrast, it took the US government two and a half years to disclose the general's papers to the newspaper.
In 2017, when then-US President Donald Trump nominated Mattis to head the Pentagon, he did not publicly disclose his consulting job in the United Arab Emirates on his work history and financial disclosure forms. He didn't mention it in his 2019 memoir either. Several Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee told the newspaper they did not remember the revelations being made during his confirmation hearings, although a committee staffer said it was included in a classified memo.
Mattis said in his application that he wanted this “Bringing US military experience in combat and campaigns to strengthen the UAE’s efforts.” The Saudi-led coalition spent nearly eight years trying to defeat the Houthis – with intelligence support and air fueling from the United States – before conceding defeat and demanding peace.
The Yemeni group is currently preventing passage through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to any commercial ships linked to Israel, the United States or the United Kingdom, in protest against the Israeli attack on Gaza.
Source link
