The Fall of Yemen - John Bolton

The Fall of Yemen - John Bolton @ WSJ

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... turning out to the country of Yemen and there's no other word for a chaos there ... no one really in charge Iran looming ... bear Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John Bolton former UN investor stays with me now Mr. ambassador ... by not people focus on him and we are focused on it now ... but for the players here set the scene for us well that the country is dissolved and tenure and are key it has always been a mix of tribes and clans in the and factions it's been the result of a merger of two separate and then some thirty plus years ago ... a stable government up until that the Arab Spring was basically cast adrift by the Obama administration what we have now ... is the country is fragmented ... we got some people who we'd like to see in power to help us in the war against terrorism but most dangerously we've got the LPNT ... clan and tribe the adherence of an offshoot of Shia Islam ... in the grip of Iran many people think to holding open the back door to the Arabian Peninsula in all that will produce and welfare ... they're now in charge of the capital they won all autonomy within their large region bordering on Saudi Arabia ... on the other side of the spectrum we have the headquarters of al Qaeda the Arabian okay so you've got Shiite packs you get scared you I'm back through the menu at SUNY Baca al Qaeda ... and this Arabian Peninsula says the future of the Middle East and the phrase you rightly said Yemen itself is in chaos but so is Somalia ... so is the is Libyan so is the Iraq so in Syria ... and the cancer spreading and in the next place will spread to his ear will produce a Manaro and we know now I in the review its ally is taking credit ... for the attacks on Charlie ago I was a quote from the president last year he said ... this strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us while supporting partners on the front lines ... is why we have successfully pursued in Yemen ... and Somalia ... for years ... Mr Nasser what has changed between September of last year ... and say well reality has a way of intruding into the presence parallel universe and I don't know honestly what he couldn't than twenty mentions Somali ... chaos last which has been in chaos for twenty five years but but certainly Yemen was a much better even at that point and if you needed the final proof we see it today when the president can even controls on off ok but what should the president have done because he's already doing drone strikes ... we know the American public doesn't support putting troops abroad so what should the strategy be ... but he was using drone strikes against al Qaeda in the Arabian ... Peninsula but he was not doing what he should of been doing to strengthen the elements in Yemen who support us I think it was another ... element of mistaken his strategy in response to the Arab Spring ... the El Sal a government presenter presents ally had that elected ... a rarity in the Arab world ... it was Jeffersonian Democrats but it was better than the cast we've got now so he helped ease adding stable ... pro American government and the result is chaos ... that it was not certainly within his powers say on the back presents ally and that will guarantee he stayed in power but he picked the one certain course to make sure that all interest favorable to the United States disappearance practices here how ... well the threads is directly because of the potential the terrorist operating out of Yemen either al Qaeda's war pro Iranian terrorists ... can attack us can attack Western Europe can attack ... the Arab monarchies on the Arabian Peninsula who feel very vulnerable exposed because of the absence of ... the displays of American power in the region that's a great point that's the backstory was in Saudi Arabia can do ... better prices to tease John Bolton history master ... taster thank you ... it's ...