Article: My Plastic Penis

But that means more foreign aid, doesn't it, Linda? It's no wonder Shawqi Al-Qadhi is in the opposition party. He doesn't know a good thing when he sees it.

Yemen has two radical groups operating inside its borders. The Houthis, a Zaidi Shia sect supported by Iran, claim the government is corrupt but also want to carve the country up into a Shia enclave. This group represents a threat to Saudi Arabia and the Saudis have used their own military to attack them.

"Iran supports the Houthis primarily because the Houthis belong to the Shiite sect and it has remained an unstated policy of Tehran to help, support and unite the Shias all over the region. Furthermore, supporting the Houthis in the backyard of Saudi Arabia would give Tehran a geo-strategic advantage vis a vis that country with whom it has a longstanding regional rivalry. This has heightened Saudi fear about the possibility of an increased Iranian influence over the Houthis.

"Saudi Arabia is concerned about the intrusion of Houthis into its territory and that increased activities by the Houthis may spill over to its territory and inflame its Shia population which has, in the past, triggered several violent uprisings. That apart, Saudi Arabia is worried that Al Qaeda terrorists from Yemen and elsewhere may seize the opportunity to enter the Kingdom using the porous Saudi-Yemeni border for their operations.

"To Saudi Arabia's disbelief, Houthi rebels attacked Saudi border security guards and infiltrated the Kingdom's territory. For their part, Saudis launched heavy military operations including aerial bombardment to push the Houthis back to their territory. Heavy confrontation was reported from areas like al-Khuba and Jabal al-Dukhan in the Jaizan region bordering Yemen which has led to several deaths on both sides. Saudi Arabia also imposed a naval blockade on the Red Sea coast of northern Yemen to check the flow of weapons to the Houthis."
(Institute for Defense Studies &Analysis)

The government is fighting a Southern movement as well, so Al-Qaeda comes in a distant third on their threat list. They knew where the Al-Qaeda camp was. It wasn't a secret, but they chose instead a predator drone attack because that gets headlines, Linda, and more money to fight the two dozen or so rag tag, so-called Al-Qaeda. This is about a regional influence battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Or is this about a guy with firecrackers in his shorts? "What do you think, Linda?"

Coming up next on C-Span, a forum hosted by "The Economist" magazine, followed by three hours with noted author Michelle Malkin.

"God created war so that Americans would learn geography."
(Mark Twain)

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