CNN and its Pentagon stenographer, Barbara Starr, are shameless mouthpieces for the war state. In an article touting the Pentagon’s unverified claim that last month’s special-ops raid in Yemen, greenlit by Donald Trump, has yielded actionable intel, we find this astounding sentence:

“AQAP [al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] is considered by many analysts to be al Qaeda’s most capable affiliate, and the organization has been able to carve out a safe haven in Yemen amid the ongoing civil war there between government loyalists and Houthi rebels.”

Missing from the story is the fact that it is Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies — enabled by the U.S. military — that are warring against the Houthis and “carv[ing] out a safe haven” for the disciples of Osama bin Laden. The merciless Saudi bombing campaign and naval blockade — which could not be taking place without U.S. assistance — threaten mass starvation in the Middle East’s poorest country. The Obama administration joined the Saudi effort nearly two years ago apparently to placate the Gulf states, which were upset by the Iran nuclear deal. Donald Trump, who’s obsessed with Iran, shows no sign of ending that war. The Houthis, who practice a form of Shi’ite Islam, are wrongly portrayed as Iranian agents.

So while Navy SEALs kill al-Qaeda operatives and others — including unaffiliated tribesmen, women, and children —  the U.S. government also helps al-Qaeda because of its obsession with Iran and its alliance with the cradle of “radical Islamic terrorism”: Saudi Arabia.