placeholder

If it was such common knowledge, how come you didn't seem to have a clue about the Saudi fears of the Yemen truce unraveling and renewed conflict with Iran. And her conclusion agrees with mine: sometimes there's nothing more that you can do.

That's what you're talking about now. Now what you said back when. And this in no way constitutes a reversal. Just a slowing.

The article had lots of useful and specific information. And please spare me the BS about it not contradicting your assertion. You challenged my explanation with your own. And given the situation vis a via Iran and the Houthis, the explanations offered in both articles are far superior to the nonspecific one that you offered.

I'm not concerned about winning popularity contests. In fact, I'll even vote for you to be prom king. As for what the US thinks, that's funny coming from you considering your insistence that widespread starvation in Gaza is by no means proven.. Think the US agrees with you on that one?

Really? It does point out why the Saudis aren't happy with this situation. And definitely contradicts your assertion that it's just about sitting on the sidelines.

Characterizing what the US is doing in regards to the Houthis as nothing looks overwrought to me. But that's only because it is. Sometimes a short term plan is all you need. In this case, what course can the US pursue that will stop the Houthis? Keep in mind that the Houthis consider the US an enemy for very sound reasons. "Take it up with the USA?" Is that what you would have said to, say, people who were criticizing in this forum the Bush administration decision to wage war on Iraq? What point did you think you were making?

As I pointed out before, the hen house and predators in question are nowhere near where you live.

Empty accusation much?

And I should have added that your henhouse is located a lot closer to those foxes than it is to where you live.

It's one thing if the fox lives on your property. Quite another if it's located far away and it's not just one fox but thousands.

Yours is the kind of emotionalism that got the US involved in far too many wars. Can you share with me what propaganda I am spouting? You're the one who proposed a solution of stopping all support for the Houthis. That's about as useful as claiming that the solution to curing cancer is to come up with a cure for it. Israel is in danger of being wiped out? You've got nothing.

Can you share with us some of those studies? Because there's no proof for it in any data that I've seen. Whether it was the Reagan tax cuts, the Bush tax cuts, or the Trump tax cuts, there was no noticeable effect on GDP. In fact, the only time that the economy experienced a sharp out-of-trend jump was after the Clinton tax increases of 1993. One noticeable effect of these tax cuts is increasing income inequality.

On the other hand, the US backing of the Saudis in its war against the Houthis is quite relevant.

The Saudis have been heavily invested in a rapprochement with Iran and with extricating itself from its disastrous military misadventure in Iran. There is an excellent article from Reuters which goes into this in some detail. However we can't link to reuters. Still if you look up the article looking for riyadh reluctant and the date of dec 21, 2023, you should have no trouble locating it. Here's a link to an article in Foreign which explains why the best of the bad options is not to bomb the Houthis. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/yemen/dont-bomb-houthis Among other things the author points out how such bombing could reignite the civil war in Yemen. The last thing the Saudis want is a resumption of conflict in Yemen. As for the those who decided to bomb Yemen, whatever their intent, and it looks to me more like a Hail Mary pass than anything else, it seems dubious that they're going to slow down the Houthis much.

I have no idea who Marc Champion is. What I do know is that recent history teaches us that suppressing forces like the Houthis would take years and a huge commitment.

Great idea! Now all we need are the trivial details of how to accomplish that.

If the US does nothing? This is the kind of hysterical comment that always seems to be a consequence of war. I got news for you. The US is already doing something in response to the Houthi attacks. In fact, it's doing a lot. Unless you think shooting down drones and intercepting missiles is nothing. The question is what will be an effective response. It seems dubious that these targeted missions will put an end to the Houthi attacks. Most likely, they will be seen as ineffective. So, unless the US plans a fullscale invasion of Yemen, better to continue as is. So far, the US and company have been very effective in thwarting Houthi attacks.

Nonsense. The stratosphere is still getting colder. There has been no reversal of the trend.

More nonsense from you. I posed a question about what would stop the Houthis. BrianBkk tried to blameshift onto Hamas and claimed first that a "stop" later revised into a "pause" would be just the ticket. Since you've decided to insert yourself into this, how would a pause solve the Houthi problem?

Sure they are. Absolutely. It's almost a dead cert that once a pause is estableishe, Israel will readily agree to an extension. You've got to be kidding.

But you're the one who answered my question by citing a stop by Israel. In fact, a pause would solve nothing in regards to the Houthis.

I was not accusing you of claiming it was counterproductive. Rather posing it as a possibility. And you don't see how neighboring countries' regimes endangered? If the US escalates its response against the Houthis, you think the local citizenry are going to be happy about their governments' friendly relations with the US? Have you noticed that MbS isn't exactly thrilled with the US response? In fact, have any of the locals joined in or even approved of these actions? You don't see the potential for major arrest if the US seriously escalates its response? And if the US just continues as it has been and the Houthis keep up their attacks, which seems likely, doesn't that actually make the US look weak?

I think you need reminding of what I wrote and your reply: How does Israel pausing solve the Houthi problem?

Well, if what you call the least bad option actually is counterproductive, then doing nothing, as you call it, is the better option. As numerous commentators have pointed out, these attacks will only make the Houthis more popular. Neighboring countries aren't happy about these attacks for fear they could destabilize their countries. You think actions that endanger the current regimes in the region are a good idea? That it's worth the risk? And it isn't as though nothing is being done. The US and others are shooting down drones.

Thanks for exposing your massive ignorance. Do you even have a clue what "stone age" signifies?