There's a fascinating story in today's WSJ.
Here's an excerpt:

quote:

WASHINGTON—On Aug. 11, 2017, a United Arab Emirates helicopter filled with soldiers taking part in an offensive against al Qaeda militants crashed in Yemen, leaving three soldiers dead and seven seriously wounded, including a young member of the royal family.

As Emirati leaders scrambled to rescue their soldiers, they turned to the U.S. and asked America to organize an urgent rescue mission.

In a matter of hours, according to U.S. military officials, American special operations forces rushed to save the Emirati royal and the other soldiers. In ways that couldn't have been anticipated at the time, the unusual military mission helped pave the way three years later for the Israel-U.A.E. peace deal that is reshaping the Middle East.

Until now, the U.A.E. and U.S. military have never acknowledged that American forces saved the young royal that day.

The American at the center of the rescue mission was Maj. Gen. Miguel Correa, a gregarious Puerto Rican who now serves as a special White House adviser and the top National Security Council official for U.S. policy in the Gulf.

Gen. Correa, then the defense attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, coordinated the risky 2017 mission, leading to a celebration of the young royal’s homecoming six months later.

The rescue mission made Gen. Correa something of a hero among Emirati leaders, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the country’s ruler, who is also uncle and father-in-law of the wounded soldier saved by the Americans that day.

Gen. Correa’s close relationship with the Emirati leaders became an unanticipated asset in the Trump administration’s secret talks between Israel and the U.A.E. that led to the historic peace deals—known as the Abraham Accords—signed last month at the White House.

There's more for those of you who have access:
Link

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
the country’s ruler, who is also uncle and father-in-law of the wounded soldier saved by the Americans that day

Heck, I didn't know the UAE royal family was from Alabama...

Interesting thanks for posting it.

Great story!!

Another Nobel nomination for President Trump...

up to four now!

Great story, indeed!

Thank you

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
the country’s ruler, who is also uncle and father-in-law of the wounded soldier saved by the Americans that day

Heck, I didn't know the UAE royal family was from Alabama...

You know the toothbrush was invented in Arkansas, right?

You wont see that on the 6 o'clock news.

Bob

quiet professionals

-----------------------------------

Great story that will have lasting rewards. Thanks for posting.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a...01?mod=hp_lead_pos13

On Aug. 11, 2017, a United Arab Emirates helicopter filled with soldiers taking part in an offensive against al Qaeda militants crashed in Yemen, leaving three soldiers dead and seven seriously wounded, including a young member of the royal family.

As Emirati leaders scrambled to rescue their soldiers, they turned to the U.S. and asked America to organize an urgent rescue mission.

In a matter of hours, according to U.S. military officials, American special operations forces rushed to save the Emirati royal and the other soldiers. In ways that couldn't have been anticipated at the time, the unusual military mission helped pave the way three years later for the Israel-U.A.E. peace deal that is reshaping the Middle East.

Until now, the U.A.E. and U.S. military have never acknowledged that American forces saved the young royal that day.

The American at the center of the rescue mission was Maj. Gen. Miguel Correa, a gregarious Puerto Rican who now serves as a special White House adviser and the top National Security Council official for U.S. policy in the Gulf.

Gen. Correa, then the defense attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, coordinated the risky 2017 mission, leading to a celebration of the young royal’s homecoming six months later.

The rescue mission made Gen. Correa something of a hero among Emirati leaders, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the country’s ruler, who is also uncle and father-in-law of the wounded soldier saved by the Americans that day.

Gen. Correa’s close relationship with the Emirati leaders became an unanticipated asset in the Trump administration’s secret talks between Israel and the U.A.E. that led to the historic peace deals—known as the Abraham Accords—signed last month at the White House.

The accords marked the biggest achievement in efforts by the Trump administration to solidify ties between Israel and its Gulf neighbors, based on mutual interests in countering Iran that have shifted relationships in the Middle East in recent years.

Officials from the various countries acknowledged the notable behind-the-scenes role played by Gen. Correa. At the White House, before the Sept. 15 signing ceremony, according to people in attendance, the Emirati foreign minister—who is the crown prince’s younger brother and an uncle to the soldier America saved in 2017—pointed to Gen. Correa and told President Trump: “That general is part of my family.”

“This would not have happened without him,” said Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan.

That was a feeling shared by the White House team led by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and the White House point man on Middle East policy. While Mr. Kushner and his deputy, Avi Berkowitz, did much of the heavy diplomatic lifting, they both said Gen. Correa played a key role in securing the deal.

Yousef Otaiba, the influential Emirati ambassador to the U.S. who played a central role in the talks, said their success was built on the confidence the U.A.E. had in Gen. Correa and the rest of the White House team.

“The truth is, for the Abraham Accords to have materialized, there was a very much-needed element of trust, and we had that trust with Miguel Correa and the White House,” he said. “A pretty big leap of faith was required from all sides for this to happen.”

The 2017 rescue mission took place days after Yemeni forces, backed by the U.S. and U.A.E., launched a military operation to drive al Qaeda militants from one of their biggest strongholds.

For years, the U.S. had carried out airstrikes against al Qaeda militants in Yemen, who were considered some of the extremist group’s most dangerous leaders.

Gen. Correa was at his home in Abu Dhabi in 2017 when he got a call that the Emirati helicopter had gone down in Yemen while carrying out a counterterrorism mission.

Officially, Emirati officials said mechanical problems brought down the helicopter. But U.S. officials have said the cause was unclear, leaving open the possibility it was shot down by militants in Yemen.

Three Emirati soldiers were killed. Zayed bin Hamdan al Nahyan, a 27-year-old nephew and son-in-law to the country’s crown prince, was one of seven others seriously injured. U.S. officials soon learned that the young Emirati royal was among those being rescued.

Two American Ospreys carried a special operations forces medical team to the helicopter crash site in Yemen. The American medical team flew the seven injured soldiers to the USS Bataan, a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship in the Gulf of Aden, said Capt. Bill Urban, spokesman for U.S. Central Command. One soldier died on the way to the ship as a surgeon on the Osprey revived a second Emirati whose heart stopped, said Capt. Urban.

Medical teams on the Bataan worked frantically for 48 hours, Capt. Urban said, as American forces onboard lined up to give blood for the Emirati soldiers. The medical team used 54 of 66 units of blood, making it the largest such “walking blood bank” the Navy has used since World War II, said Capt. Urban.

Meanwhile, U.A.E. leaders asked the Americans for special permission to fly the six soldiers, including the Emirati royal, to Landstuhl, Germany, where the U.S. Army has a medical hospital that specializes in treating combat injuries.


Gen. Joseph Votel, then head of Central Command, called then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who quickly approved the plan as Gen. Correa kept the anxious Emiratis apprised.

The U.S. flew the Emirati soldiers from the ship back to an airport in Yemen, where an Air Force C-17 cargo plane equipped with a special medical unit was waiting to fly them to Germany,

Flying the massive plane into Yemen posed a risk. The U.S. landed the plane at night and flew out before the sun rose to ensure everyone’s safety.

Last year, Gen. Correa’s career was interrupted by complaints that, as defense attaché in Abu Dhabi, he cultivated ties with Emirati leaders without keeping his civilian boss apprised, according to current and former U.S. officials.

He was removed from the post in April 2019 by the top American diplomat in Abu Dhabi, the officials said. A formal Pentagon inspector general investigation concluded that Gen. Correa did nothing wrong, the officials said, and the general eventually secured a new job at the White House National Security Council as senior director for Gulf affairs. The State Department declined to comment. Earlier this year, Gen. Correa was promoted to two-star general.

At the White House, Gen. Correa’s revered status in Abu Dhabi quickly became an asset.

In mid-June, Mr. Otaiba wrote an op-ed in a leading Israeli newspaper warning the country that its looming plans to annex West Bank land once expected to be part of a Palestinian state would imperil Israeli hopes of building ties with the U.A.E. and other Arab nations.

The op-ed sparked weeks of secret talks between Mr. Otaiba, Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer and the White House team. The two ambassadors never spoke directly, according to U.S., Emirati and Israeli officials involved in the talks. Instead, they carried out the negotiations through the White House.

In late July, Gen. Correa, who was dubbed the “Arab Whisperer” by his colleagues, flew to Abu Dhabi for a one-on-one meeting with Prince Mohammed. They talked through details of the deal and Gen. Correa reassured the Emirati leader that the U.S. would ensure the terms were honored, according to U.S. officials.

Before the meeting began, Prince Mohammed invited his son-in-law—the one rescued in Yemen that day in 2017—to see Gen. Correa. The young U.A.E. royal rolled in, smiling from his wheelchair.

“The U.S. didn’t need a thank you,” Gen. Correa said recently. “I wanted to show the Emiratis that this was not transactional.”

Mr. Trump unveiled the Mideast deal in an Aug. 13 tweet.

The White House team worked to come up with a name for the agreements, which Bahrain also joined a few weeks later. Gen. Correa was reminded of an interfaith complex the U.A.E. is building in Abu Dhabi known as the Abrahamic Family House because Islam, Christianity and Judaism are all religious branches from the prophet Abraham . Gen. Correa suggested the agreement be called the Abraham Accords.

“I love it,” Mr. Trump told Gen. Correa and the team in the Oval Office. On Sept. 13, officials from the U.A.E., Israel, Bahrain and the U.S. signed the Abraham Accords at the White House.


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a story like this needs to be shared w all Americans

Contrast the POS Vindmann to Correa on the NSC

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a...01?mod=hp_lead_pos13
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a story like this needs to be shared w all Americans

Contrast the POS Vindmann to Correa on the NSC

Yes, couldn't agree more.

Most excellent.

It's these types of relationships, that people don't understand why our military works with other nations.