In January, President Barack Obama referred to U.S. anti-terrorism efforts in Yemen as a “model” for avoiding massive deployments of American troops.

In recent days, however, U.S. personnel were evacuated from Yemen. The country had become too dangerous because of an Iranian-backed insurgency involving forces linked to al-Qaida.

What went wrong? How could U.S. officials have been so mistaken in their assessment of whether Washington’s policies were successful?

Not all those in government, or outside of it in positions to know, were optimistic, it turns out.

Barbara Bodine, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen who now directs the Institute for Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, told the Associated Press “economic and governance issues” encouraging an insurgency were downplayed in Washington.

More needs to be known about why U.S. efforts in Yemen were such a dismal failure – to determine whether similar disasters with serious, long-lived consequences lie ahead in other key countries.

Congress should investigate this thoroughly.