Posted on 04/07/2015 12:38:47 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S., a key ally of oil-rich Saudi Arabia, had also set up a coordination center in the Sunni Muslim kingdom, whose forces have led an air campaign against the Shi'ite Houthi group which rules most of Yemen.
"Saudi Arabia is sending a strong message to the Houthis and their allies that they cannot overrun Yemen by force," he told reporters in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
"As part of that effort, we have expedited weapons deliveries, we have increased our intelligence sharing, and we have established a joint coordination planning cell in the Saudi operation center," Blinken added.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that his country opposed the coalition's 13-day air assault.
"Our view is that the solution for the crisis in Yemen is to stop the attacks and foreign interference against the people of this country," Khamenei was quoted as saying by Iran's state TV.
"It's the Yemenis who need to make the decisions about the future of their country," he added.
...
The Saudi-led campaign has failed stop the Houthis and allied soldiers loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh from pushing into the heart of Aden and up to the perimeter of its main port. Saudi-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced to flee Aden late last month.
But the air strikes -- and three airdrops of weapons -- have helped fighters push back the Houthis and their allies from some of their positions in the southern provinces around Aden, and to disrupt Houthi supply lines.Witnesses said on Monday some Houthi fighters pulled out of an air base at al-Anad which had hosted U.S. personnel fighting a covert drone war with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the powerful regional wing of the jihadist movement.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Are we selling these weapons to the Saudis, who can certainly afford them? Or are we giving them?
I guess it depends on what the meaning of “weapons delivery” is. Purposely obscure, is my guess.
Yeah riiiight.....next week a article will come out...”lost to Houthis, arms sent by USA”
The last part explains how WWI started, because French security guarantees were interpreted by the Russians as a green light for a proxy war in the Balkans.
This is the real danger of the proxy wars now starting in the Middle East. WWIII won't start through a direct great power confrontation but through a proxy war that spins out of control and because our weakness is perceived as greater than it is by our enemies who also overrate their own strength and do not perceive their own weaknesses (Russia and China are great examples).
I'm assuming the Saudis are paying or even pre-purchased the items.
“Saudi Arabia is sending a strong message to the Houthis and their allies that they cannot overrun Yemen by force,
Too late............
“Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken”
Is that the same guy who was in “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”? With this administration, it would figure...
Has there been any rush in sending them arms?
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