Thursday, January 22, 2015

More Mideast Crises

Yemen falls into Iran’s orbit as region caught asleep at the wheel

Iranian-backed Shi’ite Houthi rebels are on the verge of a coup in Yemen as Sunni rivals within the country and regionally seem helpless to stop them.

Sunni countries in the region are distracted by more pressing instability at home and of the threat from Islamic State and other radical groups. The West, focused on Islamic State and its coordinated action in Syria and Iraq, sees Yemen as a side show.

“GCC [the Gulf Cooperation Council] must intervene now to save Yemen,” the UAE-based Gulf News headlined its editorial on Tuesday, in a sign of the shock of Yemen’s Sunni Gulf neighbors.

“Al Houthis already control 14 provinces out of 21,” the paper noted, adding that “the GCC cannot watch idly while the Iran-allied Al Houthis terrorize a neighboring country and flex their muscles in a region already riddled with conflicts.”

If the Houthis are able to solidify control over the Arabian Peninsula’s southernmost country, which abuts the Red Sea, whence ships travel to and from Eilat, Aqaba and the Suez Canal, they could endanger Israel’s and other countries’ sea traffic
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On display across Sanaa, the group’s slogan “Death to America, Death to Israel” is modeled on revolutionary Iran’s motto, and many Yemenis draw parallels between the Houthis and another of Iran’s Shi’ite protégés – Lebanon’s Hezbollah.


Read it all here.

Remember it was just 4 short months ago that Obama was touting Yemen as one of his "success stories" in dealing with terrorism. The unsettling comments today from the state department spokesperson in response to this latest ME crisis leave me wondering if ANYONE is in charge.

16 comments:

  1. Houthi and the Blowfish? Hate those idiots... oh wait... no the Houthis were a tribe of Jawas on Tatooine... or was it Fremen on Arakis... I forget... either way just send 'em back.

    [sorry not meaning to be flip at the post but I'm having a "can't take reality seriously" day...]

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  2. I think it's less that no-one is in charge, and more that those in charge have no competence

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    1. I don't know if it is either of those, but rather this is what they had in mind all along.

      Just look how Obama is going to "punish" Bibi for accepting the invitation from Congress. As if Obama has stood firmly beside Bib all along up to now.

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    2. Matt, when I read about that this morning I felt - literally - nauseous. Did you ever dream that such a thin-skinned, incompetent cretin would occupy the White House?

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    3. I'd been following a story about Mossad - there were questions about who was in charge in Israel. See here.

      Note however the story has been updated; Mossad and Netanyahu appear to be on the same page.

      Collapsing the talks with Iran and restarting sanctions is key and it's good to see there is agreement on that. The only party that trusts Obama is Iran and that right there is telling.

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    4. They don't trust Obama: they just know a patsy when they see one.

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  3. You're stealing my post right out of my keyboard Florrie! I've been trying to write something about Iran and then Netanyahu's upcoming visit to DC and the news keeps overtaking me. And then TCKT overtakes me too!

    Seriously, the Middle East is in such a meltdown it's hard to know where to begin. I reckon most of it can be blamed on Obama and his ridiculous Cairo "reset" speech where he crawled to Islam and threw Israel under the bus.

    What he didn't take into account was that his speech emboldened the likes of ISIS which has now come back to bite the Arab world in the butt. And after Obama threw Egypt under the bus, castigated Sisi for overthrowing the abominable Muslim Brotherhood, abandoned Syria to its fate and destabilised Iraq, there is not one country in the Middle East who trusts America.

    And I haven't even mentioned Israel and the Palestinians.

    This power vacuum is deadly dangerous.

    What I find most eye-opening is that the Democrats are on board with the Republicans in inviting Netanyahu to address Congress about Iran. The bi-partisan support speaks volumes about Obama's present standing (or lying in the gutter).

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    1. What I am not amused by is various allegedly Jewish interest organizations in the USA objecting to Netanyahu's visit to speak to Congress. Of course the usual "J Street" is leading that charge.

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    2. You're stealing my post right out of my keyboard Florrie! I've been trying to write something about Iran and then Netanyahu's upcoming visit to DC and the news keeps overtaking me. And then TCKT overtakes me too!
      I just posted the article though, you always have great commentary/analysis.

      Yes, he is in the gutter. I never thought I'd see a president like this. I have high hopes for 2016; at the top of my list are Scott Walker and Ben Carson.

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    3. I just posted my article now, though I concentrated more on Netanyahu's upcoming visit to Congress and Obama's disgusting behaviour.

      I too have high hopes for 2016. In fact all Israelis have high hopes for 2016. After all it could not get any worse. It HAS to get better no matter who gets in.

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    4. Aridog, the Jewish organizations are following the lead, or perhaps leading the charge, of Israel's own leftists, headed by Labour and the stupid twit Tzippi Livni, who will do anything to decry Netanyahu, even at the risk of diminishing Israel's own standing.

      They are irresponsible idiots at best. I won't call them traitors because I do believe they think they have Israel's best interests at heart, but they are blind, deaf and dumb if they think that this is the best way to do it.

      Another thing about many American Jewish organizations - the "Jewish" part is secondary or tertiary to their liberalism.

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    5. Annie, It's been said you are on Twitter, if so, and you'd like a new follower, I'm @DancesWithTypos (and to think, I once refused to use that name for fear of offending old friends). Of course, that applies to anyone else here who might tweet

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  4. Hey, that's great Dances! I'm @anneinpt, like my blog. Look out for my follow.

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