Islamist Terrorists Were Given Another Safe Passage By the US

My longtime readers will remember what I am referring to. 

In February 2018, I reported that coalition forces allowed the evacuation of hundreds of ISIS fighters from Raqqa and they let them keep their weapons.

In fact, they did more than that: they provided buses and large trucks to transport over 4,000 ISIS fighters and families. They made no effort to track them down and kept the whole thing secret.

When the BBC found out about it, they first denied it, then downplayed the number and finally they blamed the locals.

Here is a clip showing the orderly exodus of ISIS thugs.

It turns out that this happened again and again. 

This time, it took place in Yemen where Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has been fighting against Saudi backed government for many years.

In February, Emirati troops and their Yemeni militia allies flashed victory signs to TV cameras as they declared the recapture of al-Said, a district of villages running through the mountainous province of Shabwa — an area al-Qaida had largely dominated for nearly three years.

It was painted as a crowning victory in a months-long offensive, Operation Swift Sword, that the Emirati ambassador to Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, had proclaimed would “disrupt the terrorist organization’s network and degrade its ability to conduct future attacks.”

The Pentagon, which assisted with a small number of troops, echoed that promise, saying the mission would weaken the group’s ability to use Yemen as a base.

In fact, what really happened was that, just like in Raqqa, the coalition made a secret deal to let them go with their weapons and paid them for their troubles.

But weeks before those forces’ entry, a string of pickup trucks mounted with machine guns and loaded with masked al-Qaida militants drove out of al-Said unmolested, according to a tribal mediator involved in the deal for their withdrawal.

Under the terms of the deal, the coalition promised al-Qaida members it would pay them to leave, according to Awad al-Dahboul, the province’s security chief. His account was confirmed by the mediator and two Yemeni government officials. 

Al-Dahboul said about 200 al-Qaida members received payments. He did not learn the exact amounts, but said he knew that 100,000 Saudi rials ($26,000) were paid to one al-Qaida commander — in the presence of Emiratis.

Where were the Americans and their drones you might ask.

The U.S. has killed al-Qaida’s top leaders in a drone strike campaign that accelerated in recent years. But in this victory — as in the others touted by the coalition — the mediator said armed U.S. drones were absent, despite the large, obvious convoy.

According to the Associated Press, the same blueprint was used in many other situations, the first being when al Qaeda fighters pulled out of Mukalla, a major port and Yemen's fifth largest city.

In that case, they kept their weapons and the cash they looted.

The militants were guaranteed a safe route out and allowed to keep weapons and cash looted from the city — up to $100 million by some estimates — according to five sources, including military, security and government officials.

The Americans?

“Coalition fighter jets and U.S. drones were idle,” said a senior tribal leader who saw the convoy leaving. “I was wondering why they didn’t strike them.”

 Then came the deal for the province of Abyan.

Soon after, another accord was struck for AQAP to pull out of six towns in the province of Abyan, including its capital, Zinjibar, according to five tribal mediators involved in the negotiations.

Again, the central provision was that the coalition and U.S. drones cease all bombings as AQAP pulled out with its weapons, the mediators said.

The mediators even threw a dinner party for the departing AQAP fighters.

For nearly a week in May 2016, the militants departed in trucks. One of the mediators told the AP that he threw the last of the departing fighters a farewell dinner among his olive and lemon orchards when they stopped at his farm to pay their respects.

The black al-Qaida flag and the slogan in Arabic “al-Qaida passed here,” on the right wall, are sprayed on a damaged school that was turned into a religious court in the southern city of Taiz.

I know what you are thinking.

You say that my title suggests a direct American knowledge of a safe passage deal but all they did was to refrain from sending their planes and drones on specific dates.

What makes me think that they knew about it? Maybe they did it because they were asked to do it.

Well,

Another mediator, Tarek al-Fadhli, a former jihadi once trained by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, said he was in touch with officials at the U.S. Embassy and in the Saudi-led coalition, keeping them updated on the withdrawal. 

“When the last one left, we called the coalition to say they are gone,” he said.

Next time you hear of a terrorist incident in Turkey or in Europe, you will know who to thank for.