Yemen: America's Mideast failure

Just a few months ago, in September, U.S. President Barack Obama spoke about Yemen as a model for fighting terror through the local government. On Wednesday, Shiite Houthi rebels -- who are supported by Iran -- took over Aden, in southern Yemen. Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is pro-American and close to the Saudis, was forced to flee from Aden as well, after having fled from Sanaa last month. Yemen has gone from being a symbol for success to yet another symbol of American failure in the Middle East. Iran has marked yet another victory as it continues to grow stronger in the region. All that's left now is to sign the long-awaited nuclear deal and Iran will receive a new Middle East where Persian is the official language. Signed, Obama.

Just a week ago, Obama spoke to the Huffington Post about the dangers of a chaotic Middle East should a two-state solution not be achieved. We can assume that on Wednesday, the White House was informed of the dozens of deaths in the Yemeni city of Ad Dali, of the Yemeni defense minister who was captured by Houthi rebels and of the killing and looting throughout the country. Recent events in Yemen are truly chaotic.

Neighboring Saudi Arabia -- which is Iran's greatest Sunni opponent in the region -- has launched a military campaign in Yemen. The Yemeni foreign minister, speaking from hiding, blamed Iran for the escalation. According to reports in the Arabic media, Pakistani commando forces have been recruited to help the Saudis. Does Obama -- or anyone else in the world, for that matter -- really believe that this conflict is related to the Palestinian issue-

Washington recalled the last of its advisors from Yemen just a few days ago. Their presence there was extremely important, because, in case anyone has forgotten, Yemen became the al-Qaida headquarters over the last few years. Even the American media realized that the situation in Yemen is yet another in a series of Iranian accomplishments in the region.

In Iraq, the Iranian-supported militias are achieving one goal after another with America's encouragement. After fighting the Islamic State group and in Syria -- again with U.S. assistance -- the Iranians are careful to ensure that Syrian President Bashar Assad remains in power as they set up shop in a country that borders Israel.

Iran "will emerge, whether we like it or not, as the central power in their sphere," former State Department official Aaron David Miller told USA Today. Really "great" news for the Egyptians, the Saudis and for us, the Israelis.

Washington does not really have a strategy to stop the spread of Iranian influence in the region. Wonderful. Obama shuffled the deck, and instead of dealing the cards as he sees fit, this great power is showing us from the side how the Iranians have managed to stack their hand. Would anyone have ever imagined that the strategically important Bab-el-Mandeb Strait would end up under Iranian control? That is exactly what is going on as we speak.

The Iraqis, the Saudis, the Jordanians and the Emiratis will tell you now that the Iranians are doing exactly what they had expected the Americans would do -- fighting the Islamic State group, fighting terrorism, fighting the bad guys. This has been America's role throughout history, even if they were occasionally a bit late to get involved.

Is it possible that the Middle East no longer interests the Americans? The energy Obama has recently expended on his conflict with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the emerging nuclear deal and on renewing the vision for a Palestinian state does not quite support that theory.

A reminder: The USS Cole destroyer was attacked in by suicide bombers in Yemen in 2000, killing 17 crew members. It foreshadowed the twin towers attack less than a year later. Some 60% of the jihadists imprisoned at Guantanamo are Yemeni.

This only illustrates just how dangerous the goings-on in Yemen are for the rest of the world. Is there anyone in Washington who would like to remind us once again about the success of the Yemeni model-

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