Naval drama(s) off Arabia (catch all)

[Ray]

I'm haven't been to Yemen, and don't claim any expertise on it. It does seem from my limited reading though that Saudi is at a minimum not targeting AQAP, and at worst may be supporting them. If true, this presents a wicked problem for the U.S. when it comes to strategic direction regarding Yemen and of course the larger region. David posted elsewhere that some SOF thought the Houthis killing AQAP was a good thing and we shouldn't interfere, but I didn't see any reporting yet on that happening. There was a time when two our enemies were fighting each other we saw that a positive, at least for the short term.

You say we don't have a strategy. That may or may not be true, but before you have strategy, at least IMO, you have to have strategic goals/ends/objectives. What do you think they should be?

One factor that should concern the US and Europe is that the most of the oilfields are in the region from East Saudi Arabia, stretching to Iran.

Oil still is an important factor to strategic thinking and plan.

I recall the rationale spelt out in the Wolfowitz Doctrine.

China is poised to 'capture' CAR oil and the lowering of the oil price is driving Russia into China's warm embrace since China has no qualms in cornering oil from any source.

China rising is bad news for the US and its global supremacy.

Therefore, it would be in the interest of the US to calm the badlands of the Middle East, be it through diplomacy, coercion or by sheer military might, even if in a stand off mode.