Bad news for US and Obama administration

[Rajoo]

Yemeni Government Collapses as President and Prime Minister Resign

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/wo...isis-sana.html

Yemen is where the new Al Qaeda is located and with the help of Yemeni government, US has been successful in targeting terrorists with drones. The new powers to be, Iran aligned Shia Houthis may not go along with it. So this is a scary situation for worldwide terrorism.

[finnbow]

Our misguided war in Iraq greatly increased both Iran's influence in the region and the formation of ISIS, AQAP and other Sunni radical groups. It seems we are now in a position of having to pick the lesser of two evils (seemingly Iran). Lovely, ain't it?

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Our misguided war in Iraq greatly increased both Iran's influence in the region and the formation of ISIS, AQAP and other Sunni radical groups. It seems we are now in a position of having to pick the lesser of two evils (seemingly Iran). Lovely, ain't it?

I don't think we have any choice but to start working very closely with Iran. Really, they're a natural ally in the present crisis because they've got more to lose at the hands of ISIS and al Qaeda than we do. This situation isn't all that dissimilar to that which existed between the US and Soviet Union vis a vis the Nazis. Really, we need each other too much to keep antagonizing one another.

Israel won't like it, of course, and will probably try to sabotage any cooperation between the US and Iran. For starters, they'll probably step up operations against Hezbollah in Syria, perhaps even attacking the Syrian Army directly. This will be a decided problem because the Assad regime and Hezbollah both receive support from Iran (and are, for good or ill, fighting "on the right side" against ISIS, the Khorasan Group and al Qaeda.

This is going to get extremely hairy.

John

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Boreas

I don't think we have any choice but to start working very closely with Iran. Really, they're a natural ally in the present crisis because they've got more to lose at the hands of ISIS and al Qaeda than we do. This situation isn't all that dissimilar to that which existed between the US and Soviet Union vis a vis the Nazis. Really, we need each other too much to keep antagonizing one another.

Israel won't like it, of course, and will probably try to sabotage any cooperation between the US and Iran. For starters, they'll probably step up operations against Hezbollah in Syria, perhaps even attacking the Syrian Army directly. This will be a decided problem because the Assad regime and Hezbollah both receive support from Iran (and are, for good or ill, fighting "on the right side" against ISIS, the Khorasan Group and al Qaeda.

This is going to get extremely hairy.

John

On that note, I read somewhere (I think the Jerusalem Post) that a former high-ranking IDF official and current Israeli politician said that the recent attack by Israel against a Hezbollah group in Syria was likely driven by (Bibi's) electoral politics.

[Rajoo]

Here is this in today's news.

Report: Israel knew about presence of Iranian general in Syria strike

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Rep...-strike-388673

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by BeamOn

Yemeni Government Collapses as President and Prime Minister Resign

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/wo...isis-sana.html

Yemen is where the new Al Qaeda is located and with the help of Yemeni government, US has been successful in targeting terrorists with drones. The new powers to be, Iran aligned Shia Houthis may not go along with it. So this is a scary situation for worldwide terrorism.

And they not only hate the Sunni Al Qaeda but have (by all reports) been successful at beating them on the battlefield. Sure they take Iranian money, hell they will take anyone's money - and then do what they damn well please.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by merrylander

And they not only hate the Sunni Al Qaeda but have (by all reports) been successful at beating them on the battlefield. Sure they take Iranian money, hell they will take anyone's money - and then do what they damn well please.

Yeh, but if it isn't American hardware (e.g., drones) killing the AQAP bad buys, the MIC can't get its cut. Big problem.

[merrylander]

Apparently the Houthis have taken over the Intelligence Dept and that was where we got the targeting info for the drones.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Apparently the Houthis have taken over the Intelligence Dept and that was where we got the targeting info for the drones.

OTOH, the Houthis hate Al Qaeda as much as we do. They won't stand in the way of us droning a few AQ goatf*ckers.