[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Yemen is not our problem. If the KSA wants to go in there, have at it. And it seems they do."

Au Contrair mon ami. We definitely have an interest in what goes on in Yemen. All of this instability in Yemen has allowed Al Quada in the Arabian Penninsula to get stronger. Instead of running for their lives in dread fear of drones they can now rest a lot easier and start to actually plan terroristic acts. Keep in mind that Nidal Hassan of Fort Hood massacre infamy drew his inspiration from them. They have shown the ability already to strike us in our own country. Not the theororetical strike that ISIS posses, but an actual strike.

If you allow the Houthis in Yemen to take control it could possibly destabilize Saudi Arabia. If the house of Saad falls (and they have a new king which means he has not consolidated his power yet) who knows what crazies could take over that country.

The law of uninstended consequences is already playing out in the Med from deposing Gaddafy. It's playing out in the Arab spring and Syria. Do we want to spin the wheel and see what comes up in Saudi Arabia?

[Vermont Lt]

AQAP is more interested in destabilizing the KSA. I understand that AQ attacked us, but the fact that almost all of the attackers were from SA tells me something about how SA feels about us as well.

The middle east is a mess. It has been since long before 2001. The US keeps making the same mistakes, over and over. We think that a democracy or republic form of government will work over there. Clearly with their penchant for corruption and tribal BS that is not possible.

We dug ourselves a hole. As Powell said, we broke it—we bought it.

When you dig yourself a hole, the first thing you do to solve the problem is to stop digging.

I think a lot of this is Obama’s fault. But I think getting ourselves into another mess in the middle east is not in our national interest.