Ya know, Gerald Celente has been warning about this war saying any hit on the Saudi oil fields would be devastating to our economy.
The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, General David Petraeus, says there are indications the domestic conflict in Yemen could become a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Petraeus spoke in Washington Friday at the Institute for the Study of War.
General Petraeus was asked whether he sees the civil war between Yemen's government and rebel Houthi forces in the north as a proxy war, with Iran supporting the rebels and Saudi Arabia helping the government. The general said it is not a proxy war now, but has the potential to become one, and there may already have been some movement in that direction.
"Frankly, although there is a lot of rumor, there's a lot of allegations, and so forth, we have been hard pressed to find indications of substantial levels of that," he said. "Although there have been some indicators in the past month or so that some of that is indeed beginning to happen."
General Petraeus says he has been concerned about growing militancy in Yemen for more than two years. When he became commander of U.S. forces in the region a year-and-a-half ago he ordered his staff to develop a plan for engagement with Yemen, and last year he made two secret visits to the country.
"[The] first trip, candidly didn't go entirely according to what we hoped it would be," he said. "It was more along the lines of 'frank and open' conversations. The visit in July, on the other hand, was a literal as well as figurative embrace."
After that more-productive visit, General Petraeus went to Yemen again on January 2, for what he thought would be another secret visit. But this time, to his surprise, he was greeted by a television camera in the office of President Ali Abdallah Salih.
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