US fighting Saudi war in Yemen?

[Seleskya + 50]

Apparently, the US has been fighting the war in Yemen for the Saudis in a very serious way. Pentagon now reveals that US forces have been conducting ground operations and launched more than 120 strikes just this year. One can only assume they are fighting for the Saudis because this is a proxy war with Iran, but they say they are fighting 'ISIS', so I'm having a hard time putting the pieces together here ...

[JohnAtronis + 78]

taking Saudi Arabia friendship to a whole new level. Wierd as it is 

[Stephen + 67]

I don't remember Congress authorizing military action in Yemen

[Joanna + 68]

2 minutes ago, Stephen said:

I don't remember Congress authorizing military action in Yemen

There was no time to authorize. We were under immanent threat

[Stephen + 67]

In all fairness, Obama the Noble Peace Prize Winner, had over 300 strikes in 2015

[Joanna + 68]

11 minutes ago, JohnAtronis said:

taking Saudi Arabia friendship to a whole new level. Wierd as it is 

We bomb them while the Saudis starve them. Teamwork 

[Joanna + 68]

6 minutes ago, Stephen said:

I don't remember Congress authorizing military action in Yemen

To my understanding, Trump gave the military expanded authority to conduct those trikes without high-level, White House approval.

[JohnAtronis + 78]

Do they really think we are that shallow? 

 

"United States has said it believes Iran was behind the most recent attempted attack on Saudi Arabia after a ballistic missile fired from Yemen was shot down over Riyadh"

 

[Meanwhile + 49]

Trump’s pick for the top legal advisor at the State Department, Jennifer Newstead, has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia could be violating U.S. and international law by restricting the flow of humanitarian aid in Yemen, highlighting what appears to be an increasingly tough administration stance toward Riyadh.

[Kate Turlington + 44]

The real question is who is fighting whom in Yemen? In the proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, we're talking about a Sunni-Shi'ite conflict. The Saudis are fighting the Iranian-backed Houthis (Shi'ite), but the US says it's fighting ISIS (or Al-Qaeda, which means Sunni) in Yemen. If that's true, then that means they're fighting on Iran's side, which is definitely not happening. Of course, media won't question this because they don't even get the Sunni-Shi'ite divide. 

[Seleskya + 50]

Right, the Sunni radicals are the creation of the Saudis as far as I know ... 

[Kate Turlington + 44]

Yes, and when it comes down to it, it's all about oil--but not Yemen's oil. The nuclear deal with Iran threatened Saudi Arabia's dominance of the MIddle East because it invited foreign business interest in Iran--and new oil sources from Iran. Basically, the deal gave Iran legitimacy. Hence the Saudi desperation to launch proxy wars against in Iran in various locations (Syria, Yemen). But the Saudis are now regretting their commitment in Yemen, and the US involvement just muddles things, even for Washington. 

 

[Seleskya + 50]

so this military operation is basically off the books as far as the public is concerned--at least it was until a US solider got killed. And in the meantime, we don't really know who the US is fighting?

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

Remember the email exchange between two diplomats regarding prince Mohammed's expressed regret about Yemen? Apparently, he was the one who insisted on playing soldiers with the Houthis and look where it got him and not just him. Just great. And now the Saudis have bought an anti-missile system from the Russians, which takes the game on a whole new, rather more interesting level.