Americans trapped in Yemen -- Obama does nothing

The U.S. is no longer a world power to be respected by our friends and feared by by our enemies. It is not that we don't have the might to protect our borders or the ability to defend our allies and our interests abroad; it's that we no longer have the will.

As the world watches in disbelief, we appear too weak to rescue our citizens trapped in Yemen, a war-torn country we abandoned shortly after Obama held it up as a counter-terrorism success story.

In February, the U.S. got out of Dodge, evacuating our embassy and pulling out the Marines who were left to guard the place. The evacuation was so swift, our personnel simply abandoned their vehicles, computers and weapons and ran for their lives.

The U.S. special operations task force training the Yemen military on counter-terror operations against the Iranian-backed insurgency also pulled up stakes, leaving a half billion dollars in military equipment behind.

Our allies quickly followed suit, and all hell broke lose. The country was left for the various terror groups to divide the spoils, leaving our citizens, like Jamal al-Labani, a California man who flew to Yemen to rescue his pregnant wife and 2-year-old daughter, with little avenue for escape. Sadly, his wife will have to find her own way to survive now as Jamal was killed by a mortar strike.

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Some of those trapped, like 26-year-old Mokhtar Alkanshali of San Francisco, were in the country working on projects partially financed by our government through USAID.

On April 3, the State Department put up this warning: "We urge U.S. citizens to defer travel to Yemen and for those U.S. citizens currently living in or visiting Yemen to depart."

Yeah, sure, like anyone in their right mind would go there now. Get out. That's helpful. The airport is closed. The seaport is effectively closed, and travel by car, if gasoline is available, is unsafe. Furthermore, Americans have a price on their heads.

The State Department was kind enough to offer another bit of advice to our stranded citizens: "Currently, there is a French frigate just off the coast of Aden called the Acronit. It's a smaller boat that can accommodate a few hundred people, and its mission is to transport all people who have a passport and can get to the boat. The boat is not in the port, therefore, people will have to find their own way to get out to it."

So, all is not lost. There is hope for any world-class swimmers with flack vests who are among the stranded.

India, China, Pakistan, Somalia and Russia have run evacuation missions to rescue their citizens, but the U.S. remains a cowardly lion, head bowed, tail between legs.

The really embarrassing part is we have two warships, the USS Iwo Jima and the USS Fort McHenry, stationed nearby. These are WARships, not frigates.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has rescued two Saudi pilots who ejected over the Gulf of Aden, and we are making plans to refuel Saudi planes that are conducting the bombing runs against the insurgents in Yemen. Surely the Saudis would suspend those runs long enough to allow a U.S. rescue flight if we asked them.

It is little wonder Ambassador Chris Stephens was hung out to dry in Libya and his pleas for more security were ignored. We may never know who was responsible for that failure because our secretary of state during that time went to an elaborate effort to hide her emails, only turning over those she wanted to release.

Bottom line: We can risk American lives to rescue a deserter like Bowe Bergdahl in order to provide the White House with a photo opt, but we can't get our hands dirty when it counts.

We're busy fighting a phony war against global warming, turning our military into a laboratory for social experimentation and turning those who break into our country into Democratic voters. With those pressing matters, we simply don't have the time to rid the world of the radical Islamic extremists who want to annihilate us.

We're too busy playing footsie with Iran in an effort to justify an unearned Nobel Peace Prize for a failed president on his way out the door.

Meanwhile, our borders are being overrun again; Russia has managed to hack into the computer system at the State Department and the White House; and we are $18 trillion in debt with no plan to stop the red ink.

How can anyone take us seriously anymore?

Media wishing to interview Jane Chastain, please contact [email protected].