​​“We will need to help countries like Yemen,” President Obama said during his State of the Union Address in January, “provide for their own security, and help allies who take the fight to terrorists.” Despite the administration’s rhetorical support for “building partner capacity,” counterterrorism policy has become increasingly reliant on targeted strikes by US forces to combat terrorists in Yemen which has generated popular resentment.

A growing chorus of voices from across the political spectrum, including former State Department legal adviser Harold Koh and Sen. John McCain, has voiced concerns about the transparency and legality of these strikes. Missing from this debate, however, is a substantive discussion of how the United States can reduce its reliance on drones and empower the Yemeni government to address threats within its own borders. One key component of addressing this challenge is the use of direct foreign assistance to the Yemeni government for counterterrorism programs, designed to help the Yemeni government disrupt terror attacks and capture or kill al-Qaeda suspects on its own.

Though the administration has worked toward this goal through a steady increase of assistance, this aid has produced serious problems that the administration has yet to confront. Of particular concern are two new programs allocated under Sections 1206 and 1207(n) of the National Defense Authorization Act. These programs provide the Yemeni government with much-needed counterterrorism equipment, such as helicopters, aircraft, trucks, and smaller items like radios and night-vision goggles. These two programs comprise the vast majority of American security assistance to Yemen — $361 million of $497 million from fiscal years 2007 to 2012 — making Yemen the single largest recipient of this counterterrorism aid in the world.

Despite this investment, the Defense Department has yet to meaningfully evaluate either of these programs in Yemen. A 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticized the Defense Department’s failure to monitor any of its 1206 assistance programs. The Defense Department responded by developing a formal assessment procedure, which it implemented in five countries. Yemen, however, continues to be left out. The assessment relies on in-country personnel, but the department has deemed Yemen’s security situation too unstable for US officials. The fact that this aid continues to go unmonitored in Yemen is a serious cause for concern, given the urgent need for oversight to ensure that its use is in line with US strategic objectives.