Bab al-Mandab, Yemen 0
14 February 2022

A U.S. diplomatic spokesperson maintained that the deployment of F-22 Raptors to the UAE was “defensive in nature… Part of a broad demonstration of U.S. support after a series of terrorist attacks that our partners in the Emirates as well as in Saudi Arabia have endured from Yemen. The Department of Defense, in the same vein, has sent a Navy guided-missile destroyer, the USS Cole, to partner with the UAE navy, and they’ll continue to provide early warning intelligence, and they’ll collaborate on air defence”. “That in no way replaces our emphasis on the diplomacy because we know only through a diplomatic end to this conflict will we be able to address the humanitarian concerns in Yemen, the security concerns inside Yemen, but also the threat that our partners face emanating from Yemen”, he asserted.

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