http://lobelog.com/does-the-road-to-tehran-really-lie-through-sanaa/#more-38649

Does the Road to Tehran really lie through Sana‘a?

by James Spencer
The Washington Post reports that “The Pentagon is looking to increase support for Saudi Arabia’s two-year-old war against Houthi rebels in Yemen[. …] The Pentagon views increased support for the Saudi-led coalition as one way of potentially pushing back against Iran’s influence in Yemen, as well as shoring up ties with an ally that felt neglected by the previous administration.”
The policy is apparently not completely decided. “The Trump administration has yet to make a final decision and Defense Department officials are locked in a debate over the issue with the White House, with some senior aides to Trump favoring confronting Iran elsewhere, one advisor said.” However, the Secretary of Defense’s subordinate commander, CENTCOM chief Army Gen. Joseph Votel told Congress this week that “there are vital U.S. interests at stake” in Yemen, which is both vague and remarkable–military doctrine used to define “Vital Ground” as “Ground of such importance that it must be retained or controlled for the success of the mission.” The current DoD Dictionary no longer has such an entry, but it does raise the question of what the U.S.’s mission in Yemen is.
In terms of economics, Yemen and the Bab al-Mandab / Straits of Perim are a key choke-point on the normal East – West trade route via the Suez Canal. Yet the World did not stop turning while the Suez Canal was closed in the 1960s and 1970s. Shipping went via South Africa (and, increasingly, can now go via the Northern Sea Route.)http://lobelog.com/does-the-road-to-tehran-really-lie-through-sanaa/#more-38649