President Obama has absolutely no intention to confront the Iranian ships headed to Yemen; pontifications to the contrary are *ridiculous in the extreme.  Any Navy deployment in the region is pure theater. Nothing more, nothing less…

(*pay attention to Kuwait)

WASHINGTON — U.S. Navy officials say the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is steaming toward the waters off Yemen and will join other American ships prepared to intercept any Iranian vessels carrying weapons to the Houthi rebels fighting in Yemen.

The U.S. Navy has been beefing up its presence in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Arabian Sea amid reports that a convoy of Iranian ships may be headed toward Yemen to arm the Houthis. (more…)

This won’t end well…. Iran resupplying the rebels in Yemen and Obama holding steadfast wanting to negotiate a nuclear deal with them.

(Via The Hill) U.S. military officials are concerned that Iran’s support for Houthi rebels in Yemen could spark a confrontation with Saudi Arabia and plunge the region into sectarian war.

Iran is sending an armada of seven to nine ships — some with weapons — toward Yemen in a potential attempt to resupply the Shia Houthi rebels, according to two U.S. defense officials.

Officials fear the move could lead to a showdown with the U.S. or other members of a Saudi-led coalition, which is enforcing a naval blockade of Yemen and is conducting its fourth week of airstrikes against the Houthis. (more…)

In September of 2012 President Obama declared “al-Qaeda on the run”, Last month al-Qaeda fueled the collapse of the government in Yemen. Today, continuing the advance, AQAP takes control of a major airport in in Yemen.

Next Up, move into Saudi Arabia….

SANAA, Yemen (AP) – Military officials and residents say Al Qaeda has taken control of a major airport in southern Yemen after briefly clashing with troops.

The officials say Al Qaeda fighters clashed Thursday with members of the infantry brigade in charge of protecting the Riyan airport in the city of Mukalla, a major port city and the provincial capital of Yemen’s largest province, Hadramawt.

Al Qaeda overran the city itself earlier this month and freed inmates, including a militant commander, from its prison.

Nasser Baqazouz, an activist in the city, said the troops guarding the airport put up little resistance. (more…)

Americans trapped in Yemen and trying to escape got a great dose of what Obama’s State Department thinks of them, and it’s not much.  It should be remembered that the State Department botched the evacuation of Libya during the 2011 Islamist civil war.

(Via WFB) The State Department is telling U.S. citizens fleeing the fighting in Yemen to contact the government of India or an international NGO dedicated to migrant rights for help, according to the website for the abandoned U.S. embassy in Sanaa and statements by Indian government officials.

The Chinese Navy last week evacuated hundreds of people from the war-torn country. Russia, Canada, and France are also reported to have recently conducted evacuations of their own.

The website of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Yemen posted two messages on Monday laying out options for American citizens looking to flee the country. The first noted that, “The Indian government has offered to assist U.S. citizens who want to depart Yemen for Djibouti. This potentially includes flights out of Sana’a and ships from Aden. U.S. citizens wishing to take advantage of this opportunity should contact First Secretary Raj Kopal at the Indian Embassy in Sana’a at 00967 734 000 657.” (more…)

Al Nusra is a front for, and has openly aligned with, al-Qaeda in Syria – which is essentially ISIS.

It is not a secret that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has tried to deliver the maximum benefit to ISIS (in Northern Syria) in direct opposition to the Kurds who are trying to formulate their own independent nation of Kurdistan. Erdogan views Kurdistan as a proxy for Irans’ growing sphere of influence.

Erdogan opposes Iran for many ideological reasons, but arguably most of all because he sees Iran’s growing influence as a threat to his own political ambitions to lead a new Ottoman Empire.

In my opinion Erdogan views his envisioned construct as most possible with a constituency of: ISIS, The Muslim Brotherhood, Al Nusra (al-Qaeda) and various other segments of Sunni Islam including the Palestinian Authority, vis-à-vis Hamas. Erdogan, like Obama, has more grand aspirations than his own territory – all of his prior behavior aligns with this perspective.

So it comes as no surprise to see Turkey’s Erdogan take the opportunity provided by the distractions of both Yemen and Iraq, to act against one of Iran’s benefactors in Syria, namely Assad. (more…)

It is interesting, and not incidental, to see CNNi (CNN International) lead the shift in leftist talking points about Egyptian President Fattah el-Sisi by focusing on their collectivist opinion that el-Sisi is “a hardliner”.

However, actions -what CNN would like to avoid- of Sisi speak louder than the CNN words. Sisi has shown over the past two years his willingness to insure minority protections within Egypt yet he has simultaneously taken a zero tolerance position toward Islamic extremism.

The Muslim Brotherhood, as a political construct, is the extremist bane of all mid-East moderates. The Muslim Brotherhood is essentially the larger construct within ISIS; and yet the Muslim Brotherhood is discussed on leftist news media as if they are not a terrorist entity.

Because of the frequency and scope of this specific media narrative it simply cannot be coincidental; someone is driving this false narrative.

CAIRO (AP) – Arab League member nations formally announced on Sunday an agreement to form a joint military force. While details of how such a force would actually operate remain thin, the agreement is a telling sign of a new determination among Saudi Arabia, Egypt and their allies to intervene aggressively in regional hotspots, whether against Islamic militants or Iran-backed groups.

(more…)

Click image to enlarge

(Al Arabia )Fighter jets of Saudi-led coalition forces pounded a Republican Guard camp in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa as Operation “Decisive Storm” continues for the second day targeting Houthi strongholds and their camps on Friday, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.

The offensive comes after powerful explosions rocked Sanaa Thursday night as the coalition forces carried out air strikes against the Shiite rebels who control Sanaa.

Witnesses said an air raid by the coalition forces targeted both Houthi members and supporters of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Al-Istiqbal military camp west of the capital. (more…)

This guy cracks me up. At the 0:50 second mark you see the White House parseltongue (aka. spin). Essentially stating the success of U.S. (Obama) Foreign Policy cannot be measured against the outcome of the government the policy is directed toward.

Just because the destination of the policy collapses and doesn’t deliver the desired outcome, does not mean the policy itself was unsuccessful. It merely means the recipient of the policy has failed, not the originator.

Doesn’t that explanation encapsulate the entire Obama outlook toward everything? Such an outlook reflects the perfect cognitive avoidance mechanism which demands consequences are never blamed on the originating action.

…I didn’t punch you in the face honey, you made me beat you by your action. It’s not me, it’s you…

(Via Al Arabia) Warplanes of the Royal Saudi Air Force bombed the positions of Yemen’s Houthi militia and destroyed most of their air defenses, 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.” (more…)

BREAKING: Residents are looting Yemeni presidential compound in Aden vacated hours earlier by President Hadi: witnesses

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 25, 2015

State Dept. confirms Yemen's president has left his house, but doesn't know where he is http://t.co/AKHz5Sgulq pic.twitter.com/jcAbABF9Bk

— Noema Magazine (@NoemaMag) March 25, 2015

ISIS is claiming victory in Yemen, the Yemeni President has fled, the U.S. air base has been abandoned, the U.S. embassy was evacuated.   However, despite these troubling facts and reports the White House is sticking by their former assertions that Yemen is a success story.  Watch Josh Earnest today: (more…)