The top American commander in the Middle East said the US is willing to help Yemen apply needed pressure on al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to deny the group ungoverned territory and thereby reduce its capability to export terror elsewhere. Intelligence officials and lawmakers expressed frustration that US efforts to bring about a dozen suspects to trial for the 2012 attack on the US Mission in Benghazi and the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens have stalled. Some national security analysts asserted that stricter rules of engagement over the past few years are partly responsible for a spike in US troop fatalities in Afghanistan. Extradited British terror suspects Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan, who face US charges of running an international jihadist network, decided to plead guilty to providing material support to terrorists.
