This attack on Yemen by Saudi Arabia/United States is part of a larger plan to create a conflict with Iran. Again, the U.S. has actually armed the rebels in Yemen, just as we armed ISIS in our failed effort to oust Assad. This begins to explain why Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have continued to pump oil and fill our storage facilities to the brim at low prices. The price of oil has already jumped 10% in the last two days as fears of Iran/Yemen blocking oil flow from the Gulf.
It seems clearer every day that the U.S. promotes chaos in the Middle East to make sure no one country gets too powerful. We attacked Tikrit yesterday to help our “allies” from Iraq defeat the ISIS terrorists who we armed to fight our enemy in Syria. Hysterically, it is Iranian armed forces who have been helping Iraq fight ISIS, but Iran is our enemy. Right?
Is it all clear now?
And the average ignorant American doesn’t even know we are militarily engaged in the Middle East, but they are fully supportive of defeating whatever existential threat our government creates this week. I wonder how many Americans could find Yemen on a world map.
Guess who is really happy? The American arms dealer corporations. More “political contributions” (bribes) to the Congress critters coming.
Saudi Arabia Imposes Naval Blockade On Red Sea Strait, Deploys 150,000 Troops As Iran Condemns Military Action
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/26/2015 07:51 -0400
As noted earlier, the biggest significance of any Yemen conflict has little to do with its own domestic oil production, which at 133,000 bpd is negligible, but due to its location, which not only shares a border with Saudi Arabia, but more importantly due to the Bab el-Mandeb strait which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden: it is the fourth-biggest shipping chokepoint in the world by volume (3.8 million barrels a day of oil and petroleum products flowed through it in 2013) and is just 18 miles wide at its narrowest point. It’s located between Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea, and connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
And since to Saudi Arabia preserving the logistics of oil supply is critical, it is hardly surprising that as Egypt’s Ahram Gate reported earlier, the Saudi-led Firmness Storm coalition imposed a naval blockade on Bab El-Mandab strait earlier today. The Saudi navy’s western fleet has also secured Yemen’s main ports including Aden and Midi.
It is not just Saudi Arabia: moments ago Reuters reported that four Egyptian naval vessels have crossed the Suez Canal en route to Yemen to secure the Gulf of Aden, maritime sources at the Suez Canal said on Thursday. The sources said they expected the vessels to reach the Red Sea by Thursday evening.
The naval blockade is just part of what so far has been mostly an air-based proxy war. As Al Arabia reported previously, as part of the “Decisive Storm” coalition against the Yemen rebels, Saudi Arabia has deployed at least 150,000 soldiers in preparation for what appears to be a land assault next, an assault that already has the preemptive blessing of the US. As a reminder, Saudi Arabia will be fighting US-armed rebels, but that’s a different story.
Just as importantly, and since as we reported first yesterday the Yemen conflict is merely a proxy war between the Saudis and Iran, we also now have reports that Iran has condemned Saudi Arabia’s intervention, is demanding an immediate halt to the military action, and has warned that a war on Yemen won’t be contained in one area.
From Reuters:
Iran demanded an immediate halt to Saudi-led military operations in Yemen on Thursday and said it would make all necessary efforts to control the crisis there, Iranian news agencies reported.
“The Saudi-led air strikes should stop immediately and it is against Yemen’s sovereignty,” the Students News Agency quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying. “We will make all efforts to control the crisis in Yemen,” Zarif said, according to the agency’s report from the Swiss city of Lausanne where he is negotiating with six world powers to resolve a years-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
Earlier on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry in Tehran called for an end to the military operation.
“Iran wants an immediate halt to all military aggressions and air strikes against Yemen and its people,” Fars quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham as saying.
“Military actions in Yemen, which faces a domestic crisis, … will further complicate the situation … and will hinder efforts to resolve the crisis through peaceful ways.”
Prior to that, Bloomberg cited the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, who told Iran’s Fars News Agency that Saudi Arabia’s strikes on Yemen will haunt the kingdom as war won’t be contained,
So as the proxy war snags more and more countries, threatens to become less proxy, more war and much more global, keep an eye on Russia which is caught in that “other” proxy war from 2014 and which is also going nowhere fast. Because if and when Russia and China pick sides and get involved, that’s when it may be a good time to take a vacation far away from any major metropolitan areas.
Another Middle East War Breaks Out: Saudis Begin Bombing Yemen, US Military Taking Action
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/25/2015 23:53 -0400
Update: *OBAMA AUTHORIZED LOGISTICAL AND INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT TO GULF, U.S. MILITARY TAKING MILITARY ACTION TO DEFEND SAUDI BORDER, TO DEFEND AGAINST HOUTHI VIOLENCE
John McCain & Lindsay Graham explain Obama’s move…
U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) today released the following statement on Saudi Arabia leading an international coalition conducting air strikes against Iranian-backed separatists in Yemen:
“Saudi Arabia and our Arab partners deserve our support as they seek to restore order in Yemen, which has collapsed into civil war.
“We understand why our Saudi and other Arab partners felt compelled to take action. The prospect of radical groups like Al-Qaeda, as well as Iranian-backed militants, finding safe haven on the border of Saudi Arabia was more than our Arab partners could withstand. Their action also stems from their perception of America’s disengagement from the region and absence of U.S. leadership.
“A country that President Obama recently praised as a model for U.S. counterterrorism has now become a sectarian conflict and a regional proxy war that threatens to engulf the Middle East. What’s worse, while our Arab partners conduct air strikes to halt the offensive of Iranian proxies in Yemen, the United States is conducting air strikes to support the offensive of Iranian proxies in Tikrit. This is as bizarre as it is misguided – another tragic case of leading from behind.”
* * *
Earlier today we reported that, on very short notice, Saudi Arabia had moved heavy military equipment including artillery to areas near its border with Yemen, “raising the risk that the Middle East’s top oil power will be drawn into the worsening Yemeni conflict.” In other words, Saudi Arabia was preparing for war.
Shortly thereafter, but before Yemen’s president bravely fled the country over fears of the Houthi rebel advance, Yemen’s foreign minister called for Arab military intervention against advancing Shiite rebels.
As we explicitly warned, “the conflict risked spiraling into a proxy war with Shi’ite Iran backing the Houthis, whose leaders adhere Shi’ite Islam, and Saudi Arabia and the other regional Sunni Muslim monarchies backing Hadi.”
Moments ago all these warnings were borne out when Al-Arabiya reported that the latest middle-east war is now official after Saudi Arabia and Arab Gulf States had launched a bombing campaign against Yemen.
More details:
This is just the beginning:
and now the US is involved:
And tanks are crossing the border:
From Al-Arabiya:
Saudi Arabia’s Royal Air Force bombed the positions of Yemen’s Houthi militia, Al Arabiya News Channel reported early on Thursday.
Arab Gulf states had announced that they have decided to “repel Houthi aggression” in neighboring Yemen, following a request from the country’s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
In their joint statement Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait said they “decided to repel Houthi militias, al-Qaeda and ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] in the country.”
The Gulf states warned that the Houthi coup in Yemen represented a “major threat” to the region’s stability.
It also accused the Iranian-backed militia of conducting military drills on the border of Saudi Arabia, a leading member of the GCC, with “heavy weapons.”
In an apparent reference to Iran, the statement said the “Houthi militia is backed by regional powers in order for it be their base of influence.”
The Gulf states said they had monitored the situation and the Houthi coup in Yemen with “great pain” and accused the Shiite militia of failing to respond to warnings from the United Nations Security Council as well as the GCC.
The statement stressed that the Arab states had sought over the previous period to restore stability in Yemen, noting the last initiative to host peace talks under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
As reported this morning, in a letter sent the U.N. Security Council and seen by Al Arabiya News, Hadi requested “immediate support for the legitimate authority with all means and necessary measures to protect Yemen and repel the aggression of the Houthi militia that is expected at any time on the city of Aden and the province of Taiz, Marib, al-Jouf [and] an-Baidah.”
In his letter Hadi said such support was also needed to control “the missile capability that was looted” by the Houthi militias.
Hadi also told the Council that he had requested from the Arab Gulf states and the Arab League “immediate support with all means and necessary measures, including the military intervention to protect Yemen and its people from the ongoing Houthi aggression.”
To summarize: Saudi Arabia is now bombing a rebel force that has been armed by the US and is backed by Iran, even as the US is bombing an enemy of Iran in Iraq with the blessing of Saudi Arabia.
All in a day’s work in the Middle East.
As for oil’s reaction: after the algos initially appeared not to get the memo, they woke up…
It would be nice to know who are our true friends are in that part of the world. If we still have any.Damn CIA is funding or fighting ever group in the middle east.Or it seems that way.
I’ve been singing this tune for years. It’s all about the petrodollar and always has been. The United States see’s it as a matter of National Security. We are standing at the gates of hell, the gate keeper is walking our way too open the gates, the price of admission is the blood of our youth. It’s time…..
@Sensetti – Definitely all about the Petrodollar. Every US action in the ME for decades has been about the Petrodollar, once all the bullshit is stripped away.
@bb – to whom are you referring when you say “our” true friends. Personally, I know no one in the ME. I have no friends there, true or otherwise. Are you speaking of the US Government. I certainly have no friends there.
Yemen Ground Invasion By Saudi, Egyptian Troops Imminent
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/26/2015 12:39 -0400
As reported first thing today, while the initial phase of the military campaign against Yemen has been taking place for the past 18 hours and been exclusively one of airborne assaults by forces of the “Decisive Storm” coalition, Saudi hinted at what is coming next following reports that it had built up a massive 150,000 troop deployment on the border with Yemen.
And as expected, moments ago AP reported that Egyptian military and security officials told The Associated Press that the military intervention will go further, with a ground assault into Yemen by Egyptian, Saudi and other forces, planned once airstrikes have weakened the capabilities of the rebels.
Will this invasion mean that Yemen as we know it will no longer exist and become annexed by Saudi Arabia? According to coalition military sources, the answer is no, but that remains to be seen:
Three Egyptian military and security officials told The Associated Press that a coalition of countries led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia will conduct a ground invasion into Yemen once the airstrikes have sufficiently diminished the Houthis and Saleh’s forces. They said the assault will be by ground from Saudi Arabia and by landings on Yemen’s Red and Arabian Sea coasts.
The aim is not to occupy Yemen but to weaken the Houthis and their allies until they enter negotiations for power-sharing, the officials said.
They said three to five Egyptian troop carriers are stationed off Yemen’s coasts. They would not specify the numbers of troops or when the operation would begin. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the plans with the press.
Egypt’s leadership role in the next stage of the campaign has come as somewhat of a surprise to observers. Egypt’s presidency said in a statement Thursday that its naval and air forces were participating in the coalition campaign already. Egypt is “prepared for participation with naval, air and ground forces if necessary,” Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said at a gathering of Arab foreign ministers preparing for a weekend Arab summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
This may be just the beginning:
The Arab Summit starting Saturday is expected to approve the creation of a new joint Arab military force to intervene in regional crises. The Egyptian security and military officials said the force is planned to include some 40,000 men backed by jet fighters, warships and light armor. Hadi is expected to attend the summit.
The locals do not sound much enthused about the prospect of allowing foreign troops to enter their country uncontested, and as AP notes, support for the Houthis is far from universal in Yemen – but foreign intervention risks bringing a backlash.
On Thursday, thousands gathered outside Sanaa’s old city in the Houthi-organized protest, chanting against Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Khaled al-Madani, a Houthi activist, told the crowd that “God was on the side of Yemen.” He blasted Saudi Arabia saying it is “buying mercenaries with money to attack Yemen. But Yemen will, God willing, will be their tomb.”
Anger against the strikes was already brewing – particularly after airstrikes targeting an air base near Sanaa’s airport flattening half a dozen homes in an impoverished neighborhood and killing at least 18 civilians, according to the health ministry.
For now Yemeni anger is focused on Saudi Arabia:
TV stations affiliated with the rebels and Saleh showed the aftermath of the strikes Thursday. Yemen Today, a TV station affiliated with Saleh, showed hundreds of residents congregating around the rubbles, some chanting “Death to Al-Saud”, in reference to the kingdom’s royal family. The civilians were sifting through the rubble, pulling out mattresses, bricks and shrapnel.
Ahmed al-Sumaini said an entire alley close to the airport was wiped out in the strikes overnight. He said people ran out from their homes in the middle of the night, many jolted out of bed to run into the streets. “These people have nothing to do with the Houthis or with Hadi. This is destructive. These random acts will push people toward Houthis,” he said, as he waved shrapnel from the strikes.
Strikes also hit in the southern province Lahj and the stronghold of Houthis in the northern Saada province. In Sanaa, they also hit the camp of U.S.-trained Yemeni special forces, which is controlled by generals loyal to Saleh, and a missile base held by the Houthis.
But that will soon change, as it is a virtual certainty that the US will intervene at a point in the near future, with its own military assets. So while we await to see just where US troops make landfall, here is the most updated map showing the locations of US naval assets around the globe in general, and in proximity to Yemen in particular. Keep a very close eye on the LHD-7 Iwo Jima amphibious assault ship (which carries some 2,000 marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit), currently located just off the coast of Yemen.
I don’t think this bullshit is about the petro-dollar anymore at least not in the traditional sense. The dollar as a reserve currency is going away and we (the govt) are a willing participant in this scheme. Under the SDR system, each countries price for SDR’s will be based on assets it has to contribute to the global market. In the case of the USA we won’t need to own the assets…just control them. The ME is being surrounded and filled with brand new state of the art bases just for that purpose. One drawback of the SDR system for the MIC is that it will limit our ability to do what we are doing right now in the ME. Our ability to print money out of thin air to finance wars of choice will be severely curtailed so assets are being bought and paid for now that will give us control over that which greases the worlds wheels. I believe the same basic plan applies to the Ukraine and that entire region. It’s all about control of the worlds most valuable assets. Going forward we will be “partnering up” with these countries by hook or by crook.
Selling or giving bullets and weaponry to both sides is a win-win for the MIC, and that’s who is in control behind the facade of pricks like John McCain and Lindsey Graham, their poster boys.
Our foreign policy is the Wolfowitz doctrine, pure and simple, but doubled-down on the sandbox.
The US media is blaming the Yemen troubles on (the old standby) Al Quaida.
Yet one has to wonder, and with no access to the actual situation without American/Western bias it is hard to tell, but one would wonder if the Yemeni’s Government continued allowing US drones (Saud’s too, from what I read), to kill “suspected” citizens and their hapless families might have something to freaking do with it?
Nah, we would surely sit back and do nothing if our government started allowing Canadian and Mexican government drones to be judge, jury, executioner and outright murderer of “collateral” children in our country.
The world seems full of tinder and poised to burn. Banksters are throwing their damned sparks all over.
Really makes me fear for my children and grandchildren. Now all I can do is survive as long as possible and help them thrive in this messed up world.
Why people are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring more people into this world is completely beyond me.
I may smile, and congratulate, and come to the shower, and “ooh” and “ahh” over the baby, but in the back of my mind, my brain is screaming, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, OH GAWD, WHY, poor baby, poor baby!”
Then I hand them back to their parents. Sigh. Babies should be blessings, that thought becomes harder for me to phantom.